Coronavirus: Safety tips if you are keeping an oxygen cylinder at home

KARACHI: Perhaps wary of the oxygen shortages reported in India, some people have started keeping oxygen cylinders at home in case a loved one contracts the virus and needs the vital gas.

Oxygen is crucial for the treatment of patients with severe COVID-19. Shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing is one of the most common symptoms in critical patients, which is treated with oxygen therapy.

Read more: Pakistan's coronavirus positivity ratio drops to 4.42% amid decline in virus cases

Having an oxygen cylinder at home allows people to give their loved ones this critical therapy quickly. But is it safe to store a high pressure gas in a domestic environment?

Geo News spoke to Muhammad Kashif, who works at a shop selling oxygen cylinders in Karachi, to get some tips on the do's and don'ts to follow if you have an oxygen cylinder at home.

Here are his tips:

• Oiling or greasing the high pressure side of an oxygen cylinder - the opening where the oxygen leaves the tank - can cause an explosion. Never lubricate the oxygen regulator. 
• Do not use a regulator meant to control fuel gases on an oxygen cylinder. 
• If the temperature is high enough, many substances can catch fire in the presence of pure oxygen. It is therefore very important to ensure proper fire safety measures in the place where an oxygen tanks is kept.
• Keep the oxygen cylinder away from children at all times. 
• These cylinders require a standard safety test every five years, make sure your cylinder is certified safe.

According to the latest data from the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) on its official web portal, Pakistan has reported at least 73 deaths from coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the total death tally to 20,680.

Provincial breakdown for coronavirus cases

According to the official portal, the total number of coronavirus patients in Sindh has reached 315,410 while 5,003 people have died so far.

In Punjab, the total number of COVID-19 patients is 338,377 and 9,960 people have died so far due to the virus while the total number of patients in Balochistan is 25,001 and the death toll has reached 273.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has recorded a total of 131,775 virus patients, with 4,043 deaths, while in Azad Kashmir, 25,001 people have been infected with the virus and 539 people have died.

Read more: Pakistan starts walk-in COVID-19 vaccination for citizens over 30, teachers over 18