20 patients dead at Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to oxygen shortage, 215 more patients still critical

NEW DELHI: At this time of acute shortage of oxygen in the national capital in the wake of rising cases of coronavirus, the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi on Saturday said that 20 patients admitted to its hospital died on Friday night due to oxygen shortage. A top official at the hospital said that at least 215 Covid patients admitted to the hospital are critical and in dire need of oxygen. However, the critical situation highlights the worsening situation in the national capital’s hospitals.

“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,” Dr DK Baluja, Medical Director at Jaipur Golden Hospital said.

Notably, Jaipur Golden Hospital is the latest hospital in the national capital to send SOS over shortage of oxygen this morning.

Earlier Moolchand hospital, and Batra hospital sent SOS for the immediate oxygen supply. “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),” read the tweet put out by Moolchand Healthcare this morning. The hospital has stopped admitting new patients till it resolves the issue, sources said.

As many hospitals are struggling with dangerously low levels of oxygen supply, the Delhi government on Friday decided to maintain a buffer stock of the gas to be used during extremely critical situations. The Centre has enhanced daily quota of medical oxygen for Delhi from 378 MT to 480 MT.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) had on Thursday appointed three senior IAS officers as nodal officers to ensure smooth distribution and supply of oxygen to various hospitals in the city.

The hospitals will also have to conduct oxygen audit to find out reasons for excess use of it. Some hospitals have been found using more oxygen than the prescribed guideline of the central government, the officer said.

A detailed record of liquid medical oxygen and cylinders, consumption and delivery will be maintained by the hospitals and shared with the health department on daily basis, he stated.