Karnataka asks Centre to increase its oxygen share

The state government has asked the Centre to increase Karnataka’s oxygen allotment as the number of Covid patients who require oxygen support has seen a steep rise, health minister K Sudhakar said on Wednesday.

“We have written to the Union health minister requesting to increase our allotment as the state will need at least 600 tonnes of oxygen by this month-end and 1,500 metric tonnes next month if the Covid graph continues. I am confident about the Union government increasing the state’s share,” he said. As of now, the Centre has allotted 300 tonnes of oxygen to the state.

The minister said there was no shortage of medical oxygen as on Wednesday, but the demand is likely to rise. “Two companies have started supplying additional 5,000 cylinders from today and a private firm has come forward to give 500 cylinders as a part of corporate social responsibility, which will ease out the situation,” he said.


State Reports 23,558 Cases
The state has continued to report an upward trend in Covid cases by adding 23,558 cases on Wednesday. The state also recorded 116 deaths during the same time.

The number of recoveries has remained low at 6,412, while there are over 170,000 active cases in the state. Bengaluru Urban accounted for 13,640 new cases and 70 deaths.

With the steep surge in cases, the positivity rate too has shot up to touch 15.47%, while the case fatality rate is 0.49%.