According to a report by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, the need for oxygen more than doubled in India between April and May 2021. While new COVID-19 infection numbers reached a high in early May, hospitalizations typically lag behind, creating oxygen demand at a later date. As the second wave dragged on in the region, other countries started to overtake India increase in demand, most notably Nepal and Sri Lanka, which experienced two of the most ferocious coronavirus waves of 2021 per capita in Asia.
With oxygen being an indispensable treatment for coronavirus, TBIJ warned of further shortages. India has banned the export of oxygen, putting further strain on its neighbors which depend on Indian-made oxygen. The same is true for vaccinations, which are also not exported anymore. The fact that Nepal and Sri Lanka still had comparably low vaccination rates made them more vulnerable, according to the report.
Vietnam, which didn’t see a large outbreak but nevertheless increased its previously low infection numbers manifold, even surpassed Sri Lanka’s increase in demand. Thailand and Cambodia also saw new outbreaks, which caused their oxygen demand to rise. Malaysia, which became the biggest Asian outbreak by new cases per capita in late May, was already doubling its need for oxygen from April and is bound to have an even more dismal result in June.
