The oxygen crisis in Karnataka is deepening with supply only half of the daily demand due to the sharp spike in Covid cases. The state has been reporting over 40,000 daily cases, the worst outbreak after Maharashtra.

While the demand is 1,792 metric tonnes, the daily availability is 865 metric tonnes. This has left the BJP-run Karnataka government clueless, especially after 24 Covid patients died in Chamrajnagar allegedly because of lack of oxygen.

A health ministry official confirmed the dire situation in light of the spiralling Covid numbers in the state that recorded 44,631 new cases on Tuesday, of which more than 20,000 were in Bangalore. “The situation is quite serious and we need adequate supplies of medical-grade oxygen immediately,” said the official, who refused to be identified as he is not authorised to speak on the matter.

Karnataka has seven liquid oxygen manufacturing plants that churn out 812 metric tonnes every day. Four of them are based in Bellary, one in Koppal — both in the north of the state — and two in Bangalore. Based on the rising demand, the state’s daily allocation was increased from 300 metric tonnes to 865 metric tonnes.

But another major issue the state is faced with is the absence of refuelling units for oxygen cylinders in nine districts, Chamrajnagar being one of them. This was cited as the main reason why the Chamrajnagar government hospital had to wait for filled-up cylinders to be brought from Mysore, 60km away, in the early hours of Monday as patients started dying.

While there was suspicion that five Covid deaths at a private hospital in Hubli, 400km from Bangalore, on Tuesday was due to lack of oxygen, the district authorities immediately rebutted the allegations, claiming that the facility had sufficient stocks.

“There is speculation that every death in every district is due to lack of oxygen since the Chamrajnagar incident. This will only create more confusion and fear in the minds of the people unless we manage to get sufficient supplies,” the official said.

A retired civil servant who was until recently one of the top bureaucrats in the state administration pointed to lack of preparedness for the crisis. “I can clearly see the government was not ready to handle this and did not prepare in advance. They perhaps assumed that the daily infection rate would be around 10,000 to 15,000 as during last year’s peak, which Karnataka could have managed better,” he told The Telegraph on Wednesday, requesting anonymity.

A doctor attached to a Covid ICU at a government hospital in Bangalore said the situation was “precarious although we have oxygen for today and tomorrow”.

“We have a large oxygen plant (a storage tank) that gets refilled once every two days. But the tension among doctors is palpable since we don’t want even a single patient to suffer due to lack of oxygen,” said the young doctor who declined to be named.