Eleven Covid-19 patients died on Monday at a hospital in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh Chittoor district, after medical oxygen supplies were cut off, according to The Indian Express, citing officials.
After a tanker carrying oxygen arrived late, the incident occurred in the intensive care unit ward of the Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Government General Hospital.
M Hari Narayana, the District Collector, said on Monday that while 11 patients on oxygen support died, many others were saved. Nearly 1,000 coronavirus patients from Tirupati, Chittoor, Nellore, and Kadapa were treated at the hospital.
According to NDTV, there was a five-minute delay in reloading the oxygen tank, which caused the pressure to drop, resulting in the deaths. Within five minutes, the oxygen supply was restored, and all is back to normal. There is no need to be concerned since we have attached bulk cylinders. Because of swift intervention by emergency personnel, a major catastrophe was averted.
There are over 100 patients in the ICU and 400 on oxygen beds at the hospital, which has a total of over 1,100 beds. To care for the patients, about 30 doctors were dispatched to the ICU ward.
Relatives of the deceased patients reportedly broke into the ICU ward after the incident and destroyed equipment. Officials said nurses and doctors were forced to leave the ICU ward and only returned after police arrived and took charge of the situation.
Meanwhile, at least three patients died on Sunday at a hospital in Telangana’s Hyderabad district, reportedly as a result of a two-hour oxygen supply outage. The district hospital in the King Koti region, on the other hand, denied the allegations, claiming that the medical facility has an adequate supply of oxygen.
Oxygen shortage
India’s healthcare system, which is dealing with an increase in Covid-19 cases as the pandemic enters its second wave, is in shambles as demand for medical services outstrips supply.
Regular Covid-19 infections have soared since the start of April in the second wave of the pandemic, causing medical oxygen shortages in many nations.
A number of people have died as a result of hospitals running out of oxygen. Following an alleged interruption of oxygen supply at the Chengalpattu Government Hospital in Tamil Nadu on May 4, 13 patients died. 24 patients died on May 2 in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar district hospital, reportedly due to a lack of oxygen. A day earlier, 12 people, including a doctor, died in Delhi’s Batra Hospital after the private facility’s oxygen supply ran out for more than an hour.
After the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi ran out of oxygen on April 24, at least 20 coronavirus patients died. A day before, 25 of the city’s “sickest” coronavirus patients died in a last-minute oxygen scramble at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital.
