The Ministry of Industry and Trade has limited industrial oxygen consumption for the sake of supplying hospitals

The plans to reduce the consumption of technical oxygen in metallurgy became known during a meeting on July 1, at which the First Deputy Minister of Industry Vasily Osmakov announced this.

“In connection with the increase in the number of patients with coronavirus and the need for oxygen, the Ministry of Industry and Trade proposes to work out the possibility of temporarily reallocating the capacity of its producers so that they can reduce the shipment of technical oxygen and can increase the production of medical oxygen for the healthcare system”, - RBC reports.

To prevent oxygen deficiency in hospitals, the government demanded that the necessary supplies of oxygen be formed in the country's covid hospitals.

According to the headquarters, a sharp increase in the incidence of coronavirus has resumed since June this year. Over the past day, 23,543 people fell ill with coronavirus in the country. This is an anti-record since January 17th. Mortality from covid has reached 672 people per day, this is the highest figure since the beginning of the pandemic.

New strains of infection, including the Indian "delta" and "delta plus", are considered especially dangerous by doctors. These strains are characterized by extremely rapid spread and more severe disease. Patients infected with them are more likely to need oxygen support. Oxygen supplies in hospitals are declining at a catastrophic rate. Indian hospitals, experiencing an unprecedented influx of patients, are already experiencing a severe shortage of medical oxygen.

In order to provide Russian hospitals with oxygen for nursing seriously ill patients, the Ministry of Industry and Trade sent out warnings to industrialists that the volumes of oxygen purchases contracted by them could be revised.

Technical oxygen, which is produced by industrial enterprises, can be used in medicine, but for this it must be converted. The purity of industrial oxygen is 95%, and that of medical oxygen is 99.2%. For the production of medical oxygen, enterprises need a license, the process of obtaining which in Russia takes up to two years.

Some representatives of metallurgical enterprises have already agreed to reduce oxygen consumption and send emergency supplies to hospitals. A similar situation already developed in the fall of last year during the second wave of covid. In such conditions, some enterprises decided to establish the production of oxygen, suitable for both technical and medical purposes.