French oxygen giant diverts supply to India’s slammed hospitals

India set another record for COVID-19 cases on Friday, with reports of bodies piling up at crematoriums and burial grounds.

French gas giant Air Liquide SA is diverting oxygen supplies for industrial clients in India to hospitals as the country is overwhelmed by a surge in Covid-19 patients. Air Liquide is sending most of its liquid oxygen output to the health-care sector and is looking to import additional supplies from the Middle East, Executive Vice-President Francois Jackow said Friday. Demand for medical oxygen in India has soared roughly 10-fold, or by more than 50% of the country’s total production capacity, he said. “The situation in India is becoming more and more dramatic,” Jackow said when presenting Air Liquide’s first-quarter results. “The crisis is picking up.”