High demand for Oxygen Concentrators in Visakhapatnam

Recently, oxygen cylinders and Remdesivir injections have been in high demand. Now, it is the turn of oxygen concentrators. . With the serious spike in Covid-19 cases, the unavailability of oxygen cylinders in the city is proving to be dangerous for many Covid-19 patients being treated under home quarantine. With the high demand for cylinders in Vizag, patients whose saturation levels are dropping below 90 are unable to get a cylinder to save them. Keeping their family members away from such situations, there are many who are ordering an Oxygen Concentrator which can be used for home isolation patients who are affected with mild/moderate Covid symptoms. Unfortunately, their demand is so high that the product costs approximately Rs 60,000-70,000 depending on the company. According to the sources, because of the lack of sufficient supply in Visakhapatnam, there are many who are getting Oxygen Concentrators from Hyderabad dealers.

The second wave of Covid-19 has affected many elderly and youngsters. After recovering from  Covid-19, the health condition of the elderly is turning worse and they are in need of continuous oxygen supply at home. Witnessing the unavailability of oxygen in the city, many families have decided to stock up Oxygen Concentrators at home. “Post covid, my father who has interstitial lung disease got severely affected because he needs continuous oxygen support at home. Due to lack of sufficient oxygen cylinders supply in the city, we ordered for an Oxygen Concentrator which can be kept at home”, said Rajkumar, resident of Kancharapalem.

What is an Oxygen Concentrator?

Oxygen concentrators are the same as oxygen cylinders, providing oxygen to the patient through the nasal cannula kept in between the nostrils. While oxygen cylinders contain a fixed amount of pressurized oxygen, either sold or given for rent, depending on the requirement of the patient,  Oxygen Concentrators are portable, need electricity, no worry of refilling and take oxygen from the air itself. Oxygen concentrators produce up to 95 per cent pure oxygen. Oxygen concentrators can supply between 0.1-5 LPM, 10 LPM. However, in Andhra Pradesh, we are getting stock up to 5 LPM. 

According to medical experts, any patient, before buying an Oxygen Concentrator, needs to take advice from their doctor. It can be utilised for mild to moderately affected patients, while severe patients who are in ICU cannot use them to survive. “There is high demand for Oxygen Concentrators in Visakhapatnam and the whole of Andhra Pradesh. In India, about 4 lakh pieces landed this year and only a few companies give pure Oxygen Concentrators. For example, 1 litre produces 93 percent Oxygen and after increasing it to 5 litres, there will be the same amount of supply. But there are Oxygen Concentrators that lower the purity levels when used at 2 litres per minute. So, people have to carefully check and buy the product,” said R Praveen Kumar, Sales Manager. 

These Oxygen Concentrators with 2 years warranty can be replaced if any issue occurs. While the stock of Oxygen Concentrators is currently not available in Vizag, it is learnt that the stock will be available after a few weeks at the surgical stores. However, there are many who have pre-ordered the product. “On rent basis, Rs 500-1000 is charged for an Oxygen Cylinder or we have to buy the cylinder for Rs 10,000 and refill it when it’s done. Refilling the cylinder during this Covid time is quite a task to do. Instead, an Oxygen Concentrator can be bought for patients who really require oxygen at home, especially ones who have elderly people,” said Sanjay, a resident of Pendurthi.