On Friday late night, the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi reported 20 COVID-linked deaths. A top official at the hospital highlighted the worsening situation in the national capital’s hospitals. Dr DK Baluja, Medical Director at Jaipur Golden Hospital stated,” 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.” Hospital data reveals, around 215 critical COVID patients in dire need of oxygen to survive.
Moolchand hospital, in a tweet, appealed for urgent help from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, and Lt Governor Anil Baijal. More than 130 Covid patients are on life support, it stressed. The hospital tweeted its status tagging CM Arvind Kejriwal, PMO, CMODelhi, and Satinder Jain. The tweet read-” Urgent sos help. We have less than 2 hours of oxygen supply @Moolchand_Hos. 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 @CMODelh i@LtGovDelhi @satinderjain26 @PMOIndia (sic).”
Speaking to the media, Madhu Handa, Medical Director, Moolchand Hospital broke down saying,” We are down to around 30 minutes (of oxygen supply) at the moment but yes, cognizance has been taken and nodal officers have responded. But I think there are other hospitals facing similar challenges. So, they now have to prioritize.”
Several hospitals across the country have raised the alarm and approached the Centre for help. With the oxygen depletion speeding over the past three days, the Delhi High Court has asked the Centre to strictly follow its order to provide medical oxygen to Delhi and ensure safe passage to oxygen without obstructions.
On 23 April; Delhi logged its first health sector failure as the oxygen crisis consumed 25 critical COVID patients at Ganga Ram Hospital. In the last 24 hours, the city registered 24,331 new cases while the active count reached 92,000. Currently, the state medical system recuperated only 23,572 citizens, losing 348 lives to the virus.