Across the country, the number of patients in ICU beds is 4,88,861 while 1,70,841 patients were on ventilators and 9,02,291 patients were on oxygen support.
The sub-group constituted by the Supreme Court to audit Oxygen consumption in hospitals in national capital during the second wave of COVID-19 said that the Delhi government 'exaggerated' the consumption of oxygen and made a claim of 1140 MT, four times higher than the formula for bed capacity requirement of 289 MT.
The second wave of the coronavirus has put huge pressure on the country's health system, with hospitals facing shortage of oxygen, medicines and equipment to treat COVID-19 patients, besides beds.
Over the weekend, many companies stepped in to ease the bottleneck in supply and transportation of oxygen, as demand ran high with the surge in cases.
In the meeting on the prevailing COVID-19 situation, Modi reviewed the availability of medical infrastructure and directed officials to ensure rapid upgradation of health facilities, the PMO said in a statement.
According to industry figures, the pre-Covid demand for liquid medical oxygen (LMO) before the pandemic was 700 tonnes per day across the country. Now, with the second wave, the demand has gone up more than seven times, reports Jyoti Mukul.
A bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said the high court order of May 5 is a well calibrated, deliberated and judicious exercise of power".
The Union health ministry on Tuesday said that aid received from other countries has been distributed in different states to help deal with the rising number of COVID-19 cases.
Some hospitals in the national capital appealed to authorities on Tuesday to replenish their oxygen stocks, saying their patients' lives were at stake owing to erratic supplies.
Battling an acute shortage of oxygen, some hospitals in Delhi on Sunday sent out desperate SOS calls to authorities to replenish their dwindling stocks, with one healthcare facility even requesting the government to shift out its patients.
The Supreme Court on Thursday said the country needs to be prepared for the third wave of COVID-19 which experts say could be more harmful, especially for children, and emphasised upon the need to create buffer stock of oxygen.
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