#OxygenCrisis: 20 COVID-19 patients die at Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital
In an extremely tragic event that highlights the dire condition of hospitals in India's capital, 20 patients died at Delhi's Jaipur Golden Hospital last night, due to a shortage of medical oxygen. Director Dr. DK Baluja said that at least 215 patients are recuperating at the facility and urgently need oxygen. He revealed that the supply would last merely two hours.
Dr. Baluja informed that the patients were admitted to the critical care unit. "Our liquid medical oxygen was over by about 10 pm and then we switched over to the oxygen cylinders. There was a drop in pressure and the patients could not survive," he was quoted by HT. He also said that the supply was scheduled to arrive by 5 pm yesterday.
"We had been allotted 3.5 metric tons of oxygen from the government. The supply was to reach us by 5 in the evening, but it reached around midnight. By then, 20 patients had died," he told NDTV. The hospital is located in Rohini.
The senior official said they managed to save some COVID-19 patients last night but are now back to square one. "We'll not be able to do that today. We have exhausted our backup," he said. Separately, the official handle of Moolchand Hospital also posted a tweet today, drawing attention to the oxygen shortage. The tweet revealed that 135 patients are admitted there.
Urgent sos help. We have less than 2 hours of oxygen supply @Moolchand_Hosp. We are desperate have tried all the nodal officer numbers but unable to connect. Have over 135 COVID pts with many on life support #. @ArvindKejriwal @CMODelhi @LtGovDelhi @satinderjain26 @PMOIndia 🙏
— Moolchand Healthcare (@Moolchand_Hosp) April 24, 2021
Madhu Handa, Medical Director, Moolchand Hospital, couldn't hold back her tears while talking about the situation. "I have been coordinating since 4 in the morning for this. We have retained all our night staff, called in additional people just so we ensure that we save as many lives as possible," she told NDTV. She is now hoping that the supply arrives on time.
A number of hospitals in Delhi have been forced to send SOS messages on social media about oxygen shortage. Yesterday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had also requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take note of the situation. "Please suggest whom should I speak to in Central government when an oxygen tanker destined for Delhi is stopped in another state?" Kejriwal had asked.
A portion of Kejriwal's statement was beamed live on TV and PM Modi rebuked him. "What is happening? This is strictly against our tradition, our protocol, that some Chief Minister is showing a live telecast of an in-house meeting," he said. Subsequently, Kejriwal apologized. His office also released a statement, claiming that there were no strict instructions from PMO about what could be telecast.
