Twenty-five Covid patients in Delhi’s elite Sir Ganga Ram Hospital died in 24 hours and the lives of many more hung in precarious balance on Friday, the scramble for life-saving oxygen getting more frantic in hospitals across the national capital and its suburbs as the day progressed. Sources said “low pressure oxygen” could be the likely cause of the deaths in Ganga Ram, one of the city’s biggest and most high-profile hospitals, where healthcare staff was reduced to manually ventilating patients in its ICU and emergency department. The hospital announced the deaths shortly after 8 am.
After the unprecedented crisis of the morning, an oxygen tanker did reach Ganga Ram in central Delhi at 9.20 am but it was enough only for about five hours depending on consumption, an official at Ganga Ram said.
Till evening, there was no further replenishment and a hospital spokesperson said they were awaiting supplies.
“It is wrong to say the deaths occurred due to oxygen shortage. We provided oxygen to patients manually when the pressure dipped in the ICU,” SGRH Chairman Dr D S Rana said.
“The oxygen supply scheduled to come to Delhi from Odisha and West Bengal should either be airlifted or brought through the Oxygen Express started by the Centre,” Kejriwal added.
More than 500 coronavirus patients, including around 150 on high flow oxygen support, are admitted in his hospital.
“Ventilators and BiPAP machines are not working effectively. Lives of another 60 ‘sickest’ patients at risk. Major crisis likely,” a senior official at the hospital said. The oxygen emergency was mirrored at the Max Hospitals and other healthcare facilities.