Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government is working together with private companies to cater to a surge in the demand for medical oxygen on account of a recent spike in COVID-19 cases, according to President Joko Widodo.
“The government continues to work hard to meet the national demand for oxygen. We have cooperated with domestic industries to secure the supply and distribution of medical oxygen for the public,” Widodo noted after observing PT Aneka Gas Industri (Samator) in Cakung, East Jakarta, on Friday.
The head of state noted that the upward trend in COVID-19 cases had led to a spike in the demand for oxygen.
“(Oxygen is needed) for the treatment of COVID-19 patients both at hospitals and isolation centers,” he stated.
Widodo lauded domestic industries for their participation in fulfilling the requirement of medical oxygen supplies.
“I highly laud PT Aneka Gas Industri, PT Samator for working maximally to meet the demand for medical oxygen by increasing its production capacity to help fulfill the national oxygen supplies,” he stated. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin had earlier highlighted three strategies prepared by the government to boost medical oxygen supplies.
The first strategy entails importing 600-700 tons of oxygen per day; while the second involves utilizing oxygen oversupplies of 360-460 tons per day from domestic industries, and the third approach encompasses importing oxygen concentrators to produce oxygen from air for hospitals and households.
The minister highlighted that the nation’s oxygen industry had an annual production capacity of 866 thousand tons, of which 638,900 tons, or 75 percent, are used for industries and 27 percent for hospitals.
To meet the demand for medical oxygen, 575 thousand tons of oxygen for industries can be converted into medical oxygen.
According to the Health Ministry, the nation’s daily oxygen requirement stood at 1,928 tons for hospitalized and self-isolating COVID-19 patients, while the daily production capacity reached 2,262 tons.
Source: Antara News