Maharashtra may divert all oxygen supply for medical use: Uddhav Thackeray

With the demand for oxygen surging, the State public health department had last month directed oxygen manufacturers to divert 80% of their stocks for medical use and retain the rest 20% for industrial purposes

With Maharashtra recording over half of the daily coronavirus cases in India, the State government is considering diverting all industrial use oxygen supply for medical use, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray said on Saturday. In an online interaction with newspaper owners, editors and distributors, Mr Thackeray said a decision on imposing stringent measures to tackle the pandemic will be taken soon but did not confirm if there will be a statewide lockdown. Maharashtra on Friday reported 47827 new cases, the highest daily rise in around six-and-a-half-months, and a big chunk of the 89,129 new cases in a day recorded in India.