A liquid oxygen plant set up at a government-run COVID-19 hospital in Maharashtra's Jalna district has improved the recovery rate of patients and lowered the death rate, a senior health official said.

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The plant, inaugurated by the state Health Minister on August 15, is equipped with bulk tanks which are filled periodically with liquid oxygen generated there. These tanks help supply oxygen to 100 patients at a time in the hospital, civil surgeon Archana Bhosale told PTI on August 1.

Oxygen therapy is a core part of the treatment of severely ill COVID-19 patients, she said. Initially, the COVID-19 death rate in the district was 4.5 percent, and it has now come down to 2.8 percent. The recovery rate in Jalna is 71 percent, the official said. Currently, 238 patients are being treated at the 200- bed COVID-19 hospital here, she said. So far, the district has reported 4,808 COVID-19 cases. Out of these, 148 patients have died till now and 3,269 have been discharged after recovery, she said.

The hospital has also started a tele-ICU facility under which the condition of every patient is checked via a monitor attached to each bed by doctors from other places, who can then suggest treatment, Bhosale said. "Experts from Mumbai and Delhi are also guiding doctors here," she said. Bhosale said the plasma therapy will also be started soon at the hospital to treat critically ill patients. She also said that in view of the rise in number of COVID-19 cases in the district, another 100-bed hospital with 40 ICU beds is being set up.