Indonesia is increasing oxygen according to Reuters after killing dozens

By Bernadette Christina

JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia has ordered oxygen manufacturers to provide medical necessity to the growing demand for COVID-19 patients, the government said on Sunday, after more than 60 deaths in a hospital whose life-saving gas supply was nearly depleted.

The world’s fourth-largest nation is battling one of Asia’s most serious outbreaks of coronavirus, and on Saturday there were 27,913 infections that have become the newest of many peaks in the past two weeks.

In a statement, Sardjito Hospital on the island of Java said 63 patients had died between Saturday and Sunday while new supplies arrived when their oxygen ran out.

A hospital spokesman was unable to confirm whether all of the dead had suffered from COVID-19.

In response, the government was urging the gas industry to increase medical oxygen production, said health ministry official Siti Nadia Tarmizi.

“Furthermore, we expect people not to supply oxygen,” he added, referring to many depots that could have an impact on gas denial.

The hospital said it was looking for more oxygen supplies a few days before the incident, but the virus patients who have been in it since Friday have exceeded their capacity, consuming the supplies earlier than expected.

The crisis calmed down as more supplies began to receive before dawn on Sunday.

The ministry, which oversees Indonesia’s COVID-19 response, has also ordered the gas industry to prioritize production to meet 800 tons of oxygen demand per day for medical needs.

The industry has an inactive capacity of 225,000 tonnes per year that can still be used, the ministry added.

Hospitals on the main island of Java are being pushed to the neck when the highly infectious Delta variant was spread, as it was first identified in India, causing a huge increase in cases and a narrow medical resource.

In the Indonesian capital Jakarta, the government said daily data on funerals following COVID protocols had increased tenfold since early May, with 392 buried on Saturday.

It was also the 18-day “emergency” limits that were put in place on the islands of Java and Bali to control the spread of the virus.

As of Tuesday, Indonesia will reduce the number of foreign visitors, who are fully integrated and will only accept those with a negative PCR test, the ministry said, even if diplomatic trips are ruled out.

Visitors will have to spend eight days in quarantine.