Barely a day after 25 COVID-19 patients died at Delhi's prominent Sir Ganga Ram Hospital due to 'low pressure oxygen', a repeat of the tragedy was witnessed on Friday night at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Rohini in the national capital.
Dr. D.K. Baluja, medical director of the Jaipur Golden Hospital, told NDTV, "We had been allotted 3.5 metric tons of oxygen from the government. The supply was to reach us by 5 in the evening (on Friday), but it reached around midnight. By then, 20 patients had died." Baluja added the oxygen pressure was low.
Baluja told that 215 COVID-19 patients were admitted at the hospital and in "dire need" of oxygen. Baluja was quoted by PTI as saying Jaipur Golden Hospital had 30 minutes of oxygen left (at 11am on Saturday). He said 80 per cent of the patients were on oxygen support and 35 in ICU. "Nobody has promised anything. Everybody is saying we will do our best," the medical director said when asked whether the hospital received any help from the government.
Other hospitals are continuing to face oxygen shortages. Moolchand Hospital put up tweets early on Saturday claiming it had "less than 2 hours of oxygen supply". Vibhu Talwar, managing director of the Moolchand Healthcare group, lashed out at nodal officers, who he alleged were not picking up calls.
Talwar tweeted, "Why don’t the concerned nodal oxygen officers at least pick up calls. I have been trying since 5am. Really shameful. The least one expects is those entrusted with this great responsibility pick up the phone.”
The Batra Hospital in Delhi's Tughlakabad Institutional Area received oxygen supplies moments after exhausting its stock on Saturday morning. NDTV reported, "There are around 350 patients admitted in the hospital, of which 265 are COVID-19 positive and 30 are in the ICU."
Ganga Ram gets oxygen
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital got supply of a single oxygen tanker on Friday night.
Twenty-five COVID patients in the elite hospital died in 24 hours and the lives of many more hung in precarious balance on Friday with the scramble for oxygen getting more frantic in hospitals across the national capital and its suburbs.
Sources said "low-pressure oxygen" could be the likely cause of the deaths in the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, one of the city's biggest and most high-profile hospitals, where the healthcare staff had to manually ventilate patients in the ICU and the emergency department.
