With just two oxygen plants in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan, ruled by Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan's PTI party, the region may soon experience an acute shortage of oxygen if the spike in COVID-19 patients continues.

“A man recently walked in right through our facility’s front door and begged for an oxygen cylinder,” recalled Khalid Afridi, who runs an oxygen production facility in the heart of Peshawar while speaking to The Express Tribune.

“He looked like he was in dire need. Probably had a loved one gasping for air on a hospital bed somewhere. So we gave it to him, we don’t charge those in need,” he added.

“We are producing 120m3/hour of oxygen right now but even if we could bump up our capacity to 300m3/h, we would still be falling short—the demand is much higher than usual, specifically for hospitals,” informed Khalid Afridi.

“Currently a cylinder costs Rs 800 but since we supply the same to the contractors, oftentimes the market rates are up to them and what margin of profit do they leave for themselves. Yet I am sure no underprivileged person is being denied oxygen for home treatment,” he shared.

Pakistan is also witnessing a massive rise in COVID-19 cases in recent times, said IBNS.

(SAM)