IGL Limited, the country’s primary manufacturer and distributor of industrial and medical gases, is assuring that it will be able to provide hospitals with adequate supplies of medical oxygen, at the current rate of demand.

In a statement today, the company says its plant is operating at capacity and it has contracts with additional overseas suppliers.

IGL indicates that its commitment to meeting demand, comes against the background of difficulties with importation, due to the global shortage and high demand for oxygen in many jurisdictions.

Managing Director of IGL Peter Graham says the company has been providing oxygen to hospitals and medical facilities via piped systems and cylinders, but the recent spiral in the numbers of persons being hospitalized and needing oxygen, has put a severe strain on hospitals and the supply chain, requiring imports of oxygen to supplement local production.

Mr. Graham notes that there has been an almost 500 percent increase in demand for medical oxygen at some hospitals over the last three weeks, with many hospitals that would previously require deliveries twice a week, now needing daily deliveries, while others require multiple deliveries in a day.

He says that IGL’s technical teams have been working with hospitals to modify supply configurations to cope with the increased demand and continue to add storage at locations where required.

He says some hospitals that depend heavily on the use of cylinders and which have in recent weeks seen a previously adequate inventory diminished, have received hundreds of new cylinders.

He says as recently as Sunday, March 14, another 150 cylinders were delivered to two hospitals with the greatest need.

He says IGL will receive more over the next two weeks and hospitals will receive a further injection in early April.