The outbreak in India is out of control, "the black market starts at $600 for a bottle". Who will fill the life-saving oxygen?

"Go ask, borrow, steal, import!"

The epidemic in India continues to worsen.
In order to allow patients to use the most basic oxygen, Indian officials with emotional breakdowns desperately shouted to the government
.

Judging from the currently published news materials, India is like purgatory on earth under this rebound of the epidemic, which is horrible
.

According to the latest data released by the Ministry of Health of India on April 26, compared with the previous day, more than 350,000 people were diagnosed in India.
The number of confirmed cases exceeded one million in three days, and the total number of confirmed cases has exceeded 17 million, breaking the global list for the fifth consecutive day.
The highest record of confirmed cases every day!

The real situation is obviously worse
.

India’s already fragile medical system has collapsed under the rapid spread of the epidemic.
There is a serious shortage of oxygen and medicines.
Some patients even died directly due to lack of oxygen after they were sent to the hospital
.

Some hospitals have announced that they will not accept new patients due to lack of oxygen unless the patients can bring their own oxygen

"Originally, they could survive with only a breath of oxygen, but the lack of oxygen has caused the death rate in India to rise rapidly
.

Now, what India needs most is oxygen! Oxygen is better than any medicine and can reduce the death rate of young people!" Affiliated to Fudan University Zhang Wenhong, director of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Huashan Hospital, pointed out

       Due to the lack of oxygen, domestic conflicts in India are also escalating
.

       In an interview with Indian media, Anil Vij, Minister of Health of Haryana State of India, said in an interview with Indian media that a truck carrying oxygen in the state was hijacked by the Delhi government while passing through Delhi
.

To this end, he has asked the police to provide escorts for all trucks carrying oxygen

       In order to save their families, many Indians have to buy oxygen cylinders from the black market
.

       According to reports, an oxygen cylinder on the black market in India has been asking for 50,000 rupees (approximately 4340 yuan, 669 US dollars) to 100,000 rupees.
Under normal circumstances, such an oxygen cylinder only costs 6,000 rupees, and the premium has exceeded 10 times
.

       CNN wrote that India is setting a record since the epidemic: the first country in the world to run out of oxygen
.

       Why is India so hypoxic?

       Oxygen is not a scarce thing on earth
.

But for patients with severely damaged lungs, higher concentrations of medical oxygen are needed to sustain life

       The steel plant is the largest source of medical oxygen
.

It is reported that the oxygen produced by steel plants is mainly used in industry, but after adjusting the formula, it is qualified medical oxygen, and the output is huge

       In 2020, India's crude steel production capacity will reach more than 90 million tons, making it the world's second largest steelmaking country
.

Why is India still so deprived of oxygen under such a production capacity? Some analysts said:

       The first is that the gap is too large
.

According to reports, at present, the upper limit of medical oxygen produced in India is about 7,000 tons per day, while the daily demand in India is about 8,000 tons, the difference is about 1,000 tons

       The second is the problem of oxygen conversion and distribution
.

It is reported that India’s steel industry is relatively concentrated in coastal areas, and India’s poor transportation conditions are world-famous.

       Who is filling the life-saving oxygen?

       In the imminent situation, in order to alleviate the "oxygen shortage", the Indian government has adopted various emergency measures at home, and at the same time, it has continuously sought emergency assistance from the international community
.

       domestic:

       In order to expand production, India approves the use of oxygen produced by steel plants for medical purposes, and encourages industrial oxygen manufacturers to produce medical oxygen
.

       In Maharashtra, the local government even used 4 thermal power plants to produce oxygen overnight
.

Because there is no bottling device, they plan to build a 500-bed hospital near the thermal power plant.
Each bed is connected to an oxygen supply line so that the patient can inhale it when he lifts his head
.

       At the same time, because of the frequent seizure of oxygen cylinders, the Supreme Court of New Delhi issued a harsh law on April 25: If someone is found to obstruct the oxygen transportation in the hospital, they will be hanged
.

       .
.
.

       Internationally:

       In order to actively seek external help, the Indian government has decided to exempt basic tariffs on imported new crown vaccines and medical oxygen.
The measures will be valid for three months.
At the same time, India is actively seeking international assistance
.

       According to the Singapore Eye, on April 24, Singapore provided a batch of liquid oxygen to India overnight
.

       According to Indian local media reports, on April 26, local time, six cryogenic oxygen storage tanks shipped from Dubai had arrived in India
.

       Almost at the same time, 600 pieces of medical equipment (including 495 oxygen concentrators and ventilators) supported by Britain to India had also been sent out
.

       The Twitter account of the Chinese Embassy in Sri Lanka also announced that 800 oxygen generators have been airlifted from Hong Kong, China to Delhi, and 10,000 will be shipped this week
.

       In addition, during this major crisis, Pakistan, Germany, France, and the United States have also expressed their assistance to India by providing medical supplies including ventilators
.

       It is worth paying attention to the gains and losses.
In the case of "oxygen emergency", although the Indian side is not friendly to China, it has become increasingly difficult for many Indian parties to ignore the power of "Made in China"
.

       According to a previous report by India’s "Business Standard", recently, some founders of Gurgaon-based startups have crowdfunded to purchase 500 oxygen generators from China, which can be put into use in Indian hospitals before April 28.
They also said they would Order another 500 units on the evening of the 24th
.

       On April 26, an insider of Yuyue Medical Company stated that local medical institutions in India have placed orders for 18,000 oxygen concentrators, and they are still continuing
.

       In addition, it is reported that in addition to oxygen generators, domestic orders for new crown reagents from India are also increasing
.

       However, the English version of the Global Times reported that many domestic companies have been cautious about orders from India-

       First of all, many companies are worried that according to the current situation of order bursts, India's orders are likely to take a long time to be queued, and their urgent needs cannot be solved immediately
.

       In addition, some companies worry about being unfairly slandered by the Indian media and delayed payment
.
Because the Indian media often "slandered" the quality of medical supplies made in China without any conclusive evidence, and the relevant parties used this as an excuse to refuse to pay for the goods.
These situations are said to have occurred at the beginning of the first wave of the epidemic in India.
It has happened many times, and some manufacturers have so far failed to recover all the payment
.

       The escalation of the epidemic, why "oxygen" is always the most urgent

       From the outbreak of the new crown epidemic at the end of 2019 to the present, there have been several waves of oxygen emergency in different degrees around the world: China was short of ECMO before, Europe and the United States were short of ventilators, and now India is short of oxygen
.

       According to the introduction on the official website of the World Health Organization, 1 out of every 6 people infected with the new crown will have difficulty breathing
.
As the so-called people live in a breath
.
As we all know, dyspnea is an extremely dangerous symptom.
It can be life-threatening at any time, and it is a real "life hanging by a thread"
.
To solve breathing difficulties, it is necessary to give effective oxygen therapy measures in time
.

       Oxygen inhalation, ventilator, and ECMO are three methods to solve the lack of oxygen supply in the body of patients with breathing difficulties.
The technical requirements and prices vary from low to high, which are hundreds to thousands of times
.
Among them, oxygen inhalation is the most basic, simplest and cheapest, and only costs a few yuan per hour; while ECMO is the most complex and most expensive, with a startup cost of tens of thousands
.

       Under normal circumstances, patients who can no longer rely on breathing air to maintain the body's oxygen supply need to inhale oxygen.
As long as there is sufficient oxygen supply, many patients can overcome the virus and survive
.

       If the patient's condition is more serious and the oxygen can't maintain sufficient oxygen supply to the body, then a ventilator should be used
.

       If the ventilator can't maintain the body's oxygen supply, the last resort is to use ECMO, or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine, commonly known as artificial lung
.

       In China, at the beginning of the outbreak, Wuhan's oxygen supply also encountered difficulties
.
But Wuhan is backed by the giant Wuhan Iron and Steel Group.
It is reported that after the transformation of production conditions, Wuhan Iron and Steel will not stop work for 24 hours, and its oxygen production capacity can reach three times the demand at that time
.
In addition, the two new oxygen supply system hospitals in Huoshenshan and Leishenshan were also quickly built, the oxygen gap problem was quickly resolved, and medical supplies such as ventilators were quickly secured
.

       In order to strengthen the treatment of the most critical patients who cannot sustain their lives on oxygen and ventilators, and to minimize the fatality rate, ECMO became a scarce material in Wuhan.
At that time, China urgently mobilized ECMO from all over the country and purchased ECMO from abroad
.

       With the sudden outbreak of the global epidemic, the "life-saving" ventilators suddenly fell into an emergency out-of-stock state abroad, especially in Europe and the United States, and the overseas orders of China's ventilator manufacturers were overwhelmed for a while
.

       However, due to the high threshold for the production of ventilators, production capacity cannot be rapidly expanded
.
The short-term supply shortage has further aggravated the surge in demand for ventilators in European and American countries.
It is reported that the severe shortage of ventilators in some countries forced doctors to give up the treatment of some patients
.

       .
.
.

       Compared with the situation at the beginning of the outbreak in China and when the epidemics in Europe and the United States were raging, India’s current hypoxia situation is a more basic lack of materials.
In this extreme situation, ECMO and ventilators are already luxury goods, which can solve the supply of medical oxygen as soon as possible.
Even if a few people squeeze a bed to inhale oxygen, it is already a very good medical treatment for Indian patients
.

       Reference article:

       1.
Burns Superman Abao: "What China lacks is ECMO, what Europe and America lack is ventilators, and what India lacks is oxygen~~"

       2.
Beijing News: "Chinese oxygen generator arrived in Delhi: Why is India so "hypoxic"? 》

       3.
China Science Expo: "The Power of Machinery: Why do COVID-19 patients need ventilators? 》

       4.
"The epidemic in India is out of control.
Why is there a shortage of medical oxygen, so I really want to dismantle LCA fighters to save people? 》