In India, people battled to breathe as oxygen demand shot up with the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases.

Last year, it had happened in the United States and Europe, and now, it is happening in many more countries that have been recording high death rates due to oxygen shortage.

Watch:

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At least 19 countries are suffering oxygen shortage including Argentina, Colombia, Iran, Nepal, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Costa Rica, and South Africa.

The list has been put together by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. It says that the situation in these countries has been exacerbated because of low vaccination rates.

In Nepal, the demand for oxygen has risen 100 times between March and May, and climbers have been asked to bring back their empty oxygen tanks from Mount Everest so that they could be refilled and used in hospitals.

In Sri Lanka, the demand for oxygen has risen seven times. In Pakistan, oxygen vendors have doubled their prices over the last month.

The crisis goes beyond South Asia. In Laos, there has been a 200-fold increase in demand for oxygen.

According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there are at least 30 countries that currently need twice as much oxygen as they did in March. This list includes Fiji, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Angola and Kyrgyzstan.

Medical oxygen makes up for just 1 per cent of global liquid oxygen production. The remaining 99 per cent is used in industries for mining, petrochemicals, aeronautics and water treatment.

Over the last few months, countries have asked oxygen companies to divert their supplies to hospitals. Even if more countries follow suit, the ones most in need will still not have enough oxygen to cater to the needs of the hospitals.

Iraq's gas company, for example, can produce only a third of what the country's Covid patients need. In Colombia, it is less than 2/3rd and Peru only 80 per cent.

More countries are staring at a repeat of what happened in India - a sudden surge in cases, made worse by crippling shortages. In fact, something very similar is already playing out in Japan.

Osaka, Japan's second-largest city which is home to 9 million people, which is nearly 7 per cent of Japan's population, has a third of the country's Covid deaths.&nbsp;The Wuhan virus has spread rapidly in the city and there is a huge wave of new infections: nearly 4,000 every day. The young and the elderly are falling sick, with Osaka crumbling under the rising cases.&nbsp;The city's healthcare system has collapsed.

"Simply put, this is the collapse of the medical system. we cannot take in (patients)," Yuji Tohda, director at Kindai university hospital, said.

Osaka is running out of beds and ventilators with doctors burnt out. While the pressure on hospitals is high, the rate of hospitalisation is extremely low in Osaka, with just 14 per cent patients hospitalised.

The rest are all fending for themselves at home. In the capital city of Tokyo, the hospitalisation rate is 37 per cent. Rates lower than 25 per cent are grounds for imposing an emergency in Japan.

Commercial activities have already been restricted in Osaka, with emergency declared in eight other regions. The news has spread to countries on the other side of the globe. The United States has warned against travelling to Japan.

The new wave of infections in Japan comes months before the Tokyo Olympics, and those at the frontline are warning against holding the games.

At least 90,000 people are expected to arrive in Japan for the Olympics. Is this a disaster in the making?

In India, people battled to breathe as oxygen demand shot up with the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Last year, it had happened in the United States and Europe, and now, it is happening in many more countries that have been recording high death rates due to oxygen shortage.

In India, people battled to breathe as oxygen demand shot up with the sudden surge in COVID-19 cases. Last year, it had happened in the United States and Europe, and now, it is happening in many more countries that have been recording high death rates due to oxygen shortage. Watch: At least 19 countries are suffering oxygen shortage including Argentina, Colombia, Iran, Nepal, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Pakistan, Costa Rica, and South Africa. The list has been put together by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism. It says that the situation in these countries has been exacerbated because of low vaccination rates. In Nepal, the demand for oxygen has risen 100 times between March and May, and climbers have been asked to bring back their empty oxygen tanks from Mount Everest so that they could be refilled and used in hospitals. In Sri Lanka, the demand for oxygen has risen seven times. In Pakistan, oxygen vendors have doubled their prices over the last month. The crisis goes beyond South Asia. In Laos, there has been a 200-fold increase in demand for oxygen. According to the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, there are at least 30 countries that currently need twice as much oxygen as they did in March. This list includes Fiji, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Mongolia, Angola and Kyrgyzstan. Medical oxygen makes up for just 1 per cent of global liquid oxygen production. The remaining 99 per cent is used in industries for mining, petrochemicals, aeronautics and water treatment. Over the last few months, countries have asked oxygen companies to divert their supplies to hospitals. Even if more countries follow suit, the ones most in need will still not have enough oxygen to cater to the needs of the hospitals. Iraq's gas company, for example, can produce only a third of what the country's Covid patients need. In Colombia, it is less than 2/3rd and Peru only 80 per cent. More countries are staring at a repeat of what happened in India - a sudden surge in cases, made worse by crippling shortages. In fact, something very similar is already playing out in Japan. Osaka, Japan's second-largest city which is home to 9 million people, which is nearly 7 per cent of Japan's population, has a third of the country's Covid deaths. The Wuhan virus has spread rapidly in the city and there is a huge wave of new infections: nearly 4,000 every day. The young and the elderly are falling sick, with Osaka crumbling under the rising cases. The city's healthcare system has collapsed. "Simply put, this is the collapse of the medical system. we cannot take in (patients)," Yuji Tohda, director at Kindai university hospital, said. Osaka is running out of beds and ventilators with doctors burnt out. While the pressure on hospitals is high, the rate of hospitalisation is extremely low in Osaka, with just 14 per cent patients hospitalised. The rest are all fending for themselves at home. In the capital city of Tokyo, the hospitalisation rate is 37 per cent. Rates lower than 25 per cent are grounds for imposing an emergency in Japan. Commercial activities have already been restricted in Osaka, with emergency declared in eight other regions. The news has spread to countries on the other side of the globe. The United States has warned against travelling to Japan. The new wave of infections in Japan comes months before the Tokyo Olympics, and those at the frontline are warning against holding the games. At least 90,000 people are expected to arrive in Japan for the Olympics. Is this a disaster in the making?

Countries suffer oxygen shortage amid COVID-19 crisis

At a time when the entire country is battling the oxygen crunch, the Gurugram administration has been working round-the-clock to tide over the crisis and its efforts have paid off as 11 new plants would be set up soon in the district. 
 
Five oxygen plants are being installed in Gurugram in collaboration with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL). 
 
An oxygen plant has already been set up in the General Hospital in Gurugram`s sector-10 while other plants are being installed at ESI hospital Sector-9, Manesar, Sohna and Pataudi sub-division hospitals. 
 
Also, 2 to 3 oxygen plants will be operational within the next four-five days while the remaining two plants will come up soon. 
 
This was revealed by the Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg during a virtual COVID-19 management review meeting chaired by Union Minister of State for Statistics and Gurugram Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjit Singh.

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In the meeting, the arrangements made for black fungus, Covid management, oxygen supply, oxygen plant, vaccination, new hospital building and the construction of a medical college in Gurugram were discussed, according to an official statement of the district administration. 
 
During the meeting, Garg informed that the Gurugram district has a surplus of oxygen stock.

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"At present, about 85 metric tonnes of oxygen stock is available in Gurugram and an oxygen refilled tanker has been kept on standby for any emergency. Also, under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, the administration has approached various companies for oxygen plant installations. 
 
Besides, the oxygen plant has 1,000 litres per minute capacity at the Covid Care Centre built at Tau Devi Lal Stadium. An another oxygen plant is is being prepared by the Honda company at a covid care centre situated in Shikohpur village of Gurugram," Garg said.

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He added that the district administration is shaking four such oxygen plants where approximately 1200 cylinders will be filled every day with this 60 per cent to 70 per cent of oxygen requirements of small hospitals in Gurugram will be fulfilled. 
 
"In the next 2 to 3 months, 11 oxygen plants will be prepared in Gurugram district. Around 20 metric tonnes of oxygen from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan based oxygen plant are being given mainly to 6 big hospitals, including Artemis, Fortis, Max, Medanta, Metro Hospital and Park Hospital," Garg said, adding that three oxygen plant will also be installed in Nuh and Rewari district

At a time when the entire country is battling the oxygen crunch, the Gurugram administration has been working round-the-clock to tide over the crisis and its efforts have paid off as 11 new plants would be set up soon in the district.

At a time when the entire country is battling the oxygen crunch, the Gurugram administration has been working round-the-clock to tide over the crisis and its efforts have paid off as 11 new plants would be set up soon in the district. Five oxygen plants are being installed in Gurugram in collaboration with Maruti Suzuki India Ltd (MSIL). An oxygen plant has already been set up in the General Hospital in Gurugram`s sector-10 while other plants are being installed at ESI hospital Sector-9, Manesar, Sohna and Pataudi sub-division hospitals. Also, 2 to 3 oxygen plants will be operational within the next four-five days while the remaining two plants will come up soon. This was revealed by the Gurugram Deputy Commissioner Yash Garg during a virtual COVID-19 management review meeting chaired by Union Minister of State for Statistics and Gurugram Lok Sabha MP Rao Inderjit Singh. Also Read | What is 'Black Fungus' or 'Mucormycosis'?: Symptoms and treatment In the meeting, the arrangements made for black fungus, Covid management, oxygen supply, oxygen plant, vaccination, new hospital building and the construction of a medical college in Gurugram were discussed, according to an official statement of the district administration. During the meeting, Garg informed that the Gurugram district has a surplus of oxygen stock. Also Read | Black fungus: Number of cases in India, symptoms & precaution "At present, about 85 metric tonnes of oxygen stock is available in Gurugram and an oxygen refilled tanker has been kept on standby for any emergency. Also, under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programme, the administration has approached various companies for oxygen plant installations. Besides, the oxygen plant has 1,000 litres per minute capacity at the Covid Care Centre built at Tau Devi Lal Stadium. An another oxygen plant is is being prepared by the Honda company at a covid care centre situated in Shikohpur village of Gurugram," Garg said. Also Read | New epidemic on rise: Indian states with highest number of Black Fungus cases He added that the district administration is shaking four such oxygen plants where approximately 1200 cylinders will be filled every day with this 60 per cent to 70 per cent of oxygen requirements of small hospitals in Gurugram will be fulfilled. "In the next 2 to 3 months, 11 oxygen plants will be prepared in Gurugram district. Around 20 metric tonnes of oxygen from Bhiwadi in Rajasthan based oxygen plant are being given mainly to 6 big hospitals, including Artemis, Fortis, Max, Medanta, Metro Hospital and Park Hospital," Garg said, adding that three oxygen plant will also be installed in Nuh and Rewari district

11 oxygen plants soon to come up in Gurugram

After a dip on the first two days of this week, new infections are back up again.

For three weeks now, India has been reporting over 300,000 new infections daily. In the last 24 hours, more than 360,000 people have tested positive and active cases have been growing again.

India has more than 3.7 million active cases.

However, the growth in recoveries remains steady, with close to 20 million people having recovered.&nbsp;

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-new-rules-for-vaccination-in-india-384853/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

&nbsp;

There is however no respite in the number of fatalities. India's death&nbsp;toll has exceeded 3,000 a day for over two weeks. In the last 24 hours, more than 4,100 people have died and the impact of this deadly surge is showing on India's economy.&nbsp;

A think tank says India's unemployment shot up to eight per cent in April. It was at 6.5 per cent in March, with almost 7.4 million jobs lost during the surge in cases.

In January, more than 400 million citizens were employed in India, but that number is now down to around 390 million with&nbsp;almost 34 million citizens actively looking for a job.

As far as vaccination is concerned, the shortage persists. A new advisory has been issued, which says if you have recovered from COVID-19, you will have to wait for six months to get your shot as studies show that 80 per cent of those infected will remain protected for seven months as they have antibodies.

If a person has taken one dose of Covishield, that person will have to wait for 12 to 16 weeks for the second shot. It is the second time in three months that the dosage interval for Covishield has been widened.

First, the gap was 28 days which is four weeks. Then it was increased to six to eight weeks. Now it is 12 to 16 weeks.

Spain is the only other country that allows its citizens to wait up to 16 weeks for the second dose. The United Kingdom and the European Medicines Agency advice 4-12 weeks.

The World Health Organization recommends 8-12 weeks.

However, there is no change in the dosage interval on Covaxin, with the second jab allowed after 28 days. There is a recommendation for pregnant women too. The government panel says they should be able to choose their vaccine.&nbsp;

Reports say these changes are rooted in science but it's also a fact that India is short of vaccines and longer intervals between doses will allow us to cover more people with one shot. &nbsp;

After a dip on the first two days of this week, new infections are back up again. For three weeks now, India has been reporting over 300,000 new infections daily.

After a dip on the first two days of this week, new infections are back up again. For three weeks now, India has been reporting over 300,000 new infections daily. In the last 24 hours, more than 360,000 people have tested positive and active cases have been growing again. India has more than 3.7 million active cases. However, the growth in recoveries remains steady, with close to 20 million people having recovered. Watch: There is however no respite in the number of fatalities. India's death toll has exceeded 3,000 a day for over two weeks. In the last 24 hours, more than 4,100 people have died and the impact of this deadly surge is showing on India's economy. A think tank says India's unemployment shot up to eight per cent in April. It was at 6.5 per cent in March, with almost 7.4 million jobs lost during the surge in cases. In January, more than 400 million citizens were employed in India, but that number is now down to around 390 million with almost 34 million citizens actively looking for a job. As far as vaccination is concerned, the shortage persists. A new advisory has been issued, which says if you have recovered from COVID-19, you will have to wait for six months to get your shot as studies show that 80 per cent of those infected will remain protected for seven months as they have antibodies. If a person has taken one dose of Covishield, that person will have to wait for 12 to 16 weeks for the second shot. It is the second time in three months that the dosage interval for Covishield has been widened. First, the gap was 28 days which is four weeks. Then it was increased to six to eight weeks. Now it is 12 to 16 weeks. Spain is the only other country that allows its citizens to wait up to 16 weeks for the second dose. The United Kingdom and the European Medicines Agency advice 4-12 weeks. The World Health Organization recommends 8-12 weeks. However, there is no change in the dosage interval on Covaxin, with the second jab allowed after 28 days. There is a recommendation for pregnant women too. The government panel says they should be able to choose their vaccine. Reports say these changes are rooted in science but it's also a fact that India is short of vaccines and longer intervals between doses will allow us to cover more people with one shot.

India's COVID-19 cases rise again as fatalities increase

At a time when there is&nbsp;a huge surge in cases of COVID-19 patients across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the valley hospitals are reeling under tremendous pressure.

Srinagar administration with the help of a charity group has converted the&nbsp;Hajj house in&nbsp;Kashmir into a hundred bed&nbsp;Covid&nbsp;hospital.&nbsp;

''We have established a 100-bed facility in collaboration with the state administration, we have 28 high flow beds available, 72 beds with oxygen supply. We have a target to create at least 200 bed facility here. We have JVC hospital close by and we have already tied up with them,'' Bashir Nadvi,&nbsp;Chairman Athrout, Charity Group

The charity group is also helping people with medical equipment at home. They are providing oxygen concentrators, mini ventilators, and oxymeters to coronavirus positive patients.&nbsp;

''We have around 350 oxygen concentrators and all are with patients at the moment in their homes. We also have mini ventilators, bipap,cpap and pulse oximeters and all have been distributed to people in need at the moment. We are getting more stuff. We will be providing more oximeters to people in need,'' said&nbsp;Bashir Nadvi,&nbsp;Chairman Athrout, Charity Group

Jammu and Kashmir reported more than 4,716 COVID-19&nbsp;cases on Wednesday while 3,198 originated from the Kashmir region, Jammu reported 1,518 coronavirus&nbsp;cases.

The government said that 52 people died on Wednesday due to virus&nbsp;related issues in the Union Territory.

At a time when there is a huge surge in cases of COVID-19 patients across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the valley hospitals are reeling under tremendous pressure.

At a time when there is a huge surge in cases of COVID-19 patients across the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, the valley hospitals are reeling under tremendous pressure. Srinagar administration with the help of a charity group has converted the Hajj house in Kashmir into a hundred bed Covid hospital. ''We have established a 100-bed facility in collaboration with the state administration, we have 28 high flow beds available, 72 beds with oxygen supply. We have a target to create at least 200 bed facility here. We have JVC hospital close by and we have already tied up with them,'' Bashir Nadvi, Chairman Athrout, Charity Group The charity group is also helping people with medical equipment at home. They are providing oxygen concentrators, mini ventilators, and oxymeters to coronavirus positive patients. ''We have around 350 oxygen concentrators and all are with patients at the moment in their homes. We also have mini ventilators, bipap,cpap and pulse oximeters and all have been distributed to people in need at the moment. We are getting more stuff. We will be providing more oximeters to people in need,'' said Bashir Nadvi, Chairman Athrout, Charity Group Jammu and Kashmir reported more than 4,716 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday while 3,198 originated from the Kashmir region, Jammu reported 1,518 coronavirus cases. The government said that 52 people died on Wednesday due to virus related issues in the Union Territory.

Hajj house in Kashmir converted into coronavirus hospital