The Lagos State Commissioner for Information, Mr Gbenga Omotoso, on Tuesday, disclosed that the state generates 400 cylinders of oxygen for the care of COVID-19 patients.
Omotoso, in an interview with newsmen, said the amount was not enough for patients requiring oxygen in the state.
He added that the state recently installed an oxygen plant at the Infectious Disease Hospital where 60 cylinders of oxygen were being generated daily.
He said, “The state generates 400 cylinders daily; the 400 cylinders are not enough at the moment because the pandemic is getting out of hand.
“The state also recently installed a gas plant at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba. This plant has the capacity to produce 60 cylinders of oxygen daily. As of last week, the daily oxygen requirement in IDH was 90 cylinders, which means there was a shortage of 30 cylinders.”
Also, the state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, in a statement on Tuesday, said the new plant at the Infectious Disease Hospital, Yaba, would make oxygen available for COVID-19 patients and supply about 300 cylinders per day, as well as six cylinders per hour for use of patients admitted at the isolation facility.
“We recognised the importance of generating oxygen because of the large number of patients who are currently on admission in our isolation centres and are largely depending on oxygen. This has resulted in an escalating and alarming demand for oxygen.
“The oxygen plant facility could not have come at a better time than now, when the state is recording an increase in the number of people presenting with difficulty in breathing and requiring urgent oxygen therapy,” he said.
The commissioner added that high purity oxygen was needed in health care facilities and essential for patients undergoing COVID-19 treatments.