Kerala: Pulse oximeter goes out of stock in state amid COVID-19 case surge
With the second wave of Covid pandemic striking hard at Kerala, pulse oximeter, one of the vital instruments required at all homes at this point of time, has gone out of stock. Not only has it gone out of stock, a good quality one which was hitherto available in the open market for around Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 has gone above Rs 2,200, recently, after Covid spike started.
Across the state as on Tuesday, there were 2,47,181 active cases, which is by far the biggest number as it has increased by over 250 per cent, with Tuesday alone recording an all-time high of 32,819 positive cases.
K. Praveen, a stockist of pulse oximeter said that for the past few days it has been frantic calls from retailers and friends demanding one piece.
"We get our stocks from Delhi, Mumbai and at times from Bengaluru and when we speak to them, they are asking if we have unsold items, to send it to them urgently," said Praveen.
"All along we have been selling it to our retailers in the price range from Rs 900 and upwards. But for the past two weeks, all the stocks have vanished. What we are told is all cargo flights from China have been stopped in the past two weeks and hence this serious situation has risen," added Praveen.
The most crowded medical shops in the state are those in front of the Medical College hospital here and not a single piece of a pulse oximeter is available as anxious people come in large numbers searching to buy one.
(With IANS inputs)
