Air India Brings 318 Oxygen Concentrators From US; Centre To Import 2 Gas Containers From Dubai

Amid hospitals across the country scrambling for medical oxygen due to rising number of Covid-19 cases, an Air India flight brought 318 oxygen concentrators to New Delhi from New York on Monday.

This development comes in the backdrop on the country logging 3,52,991 new Covid-19 cases and 2,812 fatalities during the last 24 hours. On Monday, India's Covid-19 tally climbed to 1,73,13,163 while active cases crossed the 28-lakh mark.

"All efforts to strengthen India's fight against the pandemic are on. 318 Philips oxygen concentrators on @airindiain flight from JFK airport land at @DelhiAirport," civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.

Meanwhile, the Centre also announced that two containers to transport medical oxygen are being imported from Dubai.

"IAF C-17 aircraft reached Dubai today to airlift more empty O2 containers to supplement efforts to enhance oxygen availability in current COVID-19 surge. Effort is being coordinated by MHA," a home ministry spokesperson said on Monday.

Earlier, four cryogenic tanks for transportation of oxygen were brought from Singapore on Saturday.

Since Friday, the home ministry has been coordinating efforts to deploy empty oxygen tankers and containers in various filling stations across the country to speed up the distribution of the much-needed medical oxygen in treating Covid-19 patients.

The central government is also trying to source oxygen from different parts of the country and making it available in the worst-hit states by running special trains.

(With PTI inputs)