Amid this alarming situation, the availability of medical oxygen matters and must be addressed immediately, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut B. Pandjaitan emphasized.
Data of the Health Ministry and the Industry Ministry pointed to a fivefold increase in the demand for medical oxygen amid the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases, Pandjaitan noted in a press statement here on Monday.
"We need to obtain detailed data," the minister remarked, adding that the government had demanded oxygen manufacturing industries in the country to entirely convert their products for medical purposes.
Thus, the exponential rise in the demand for medical oxygen can be handled.
On Sunday, Pandjaitan spoke of having coordinated with the Industry Ministry to record the demand for oxygen cylinders in every city across Indonesia.
The ministry informed that oxygen manufacturing industries were mandated to convert their products to meet medical requirements. Consequently, 1,700 tons of medical oxygen per day will be available.
Some 1,400 out of the 1,700 tons of medical oxygen are used to meet the demands in Java, according to Pandjaitan.
The COVID-19 pandemic initially struck the Chinese city of Wuhan in 2019 and subsequently spread across the globe, including to countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Indonesian government announced the country's first confirmed cases on March 2, 2020.
Since then, the central and regional governments have striven incessantly to flatten the nation's coronavirus curve by applying healthcare protocols and public activity restrictions.
As part of the efforts to win the fight against COVID-19, the Indonesian government has also been conducting a nationwide vaccination program to contain infections since January 13, 2021.
In the midst of the government's ongoing vaccination drives, over the past few weeks, Indonesia has been hit by the second wave of new COVID-19 cases.
The country witnessed a record increase in daily COVID-19 cases on July 3, with 27,913 new infections reported across the country, thereby taking the total tally to 2,256,851.
The COVID-19 Response Task Force noted that with 493 people dying of COVID-19, the death toll had reached 60,027. The number of deaths showed a decline on Saturday as compared to 539 recorded on July 2.
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Translator: Ade IJ, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Sri Haryati
Copyright © ANTARA 2021
