Delhi government gets Centre to intervene as oxygen levels plunge to critical level
Hospitals in the national capital said they had enough oxygen left for another eight to 24 hours, while some private institutions announced their oxygen stock can cater to patients for only four to five hours.
Amid a depleting level of medical oxygen in various hospitals of Delhi, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government urged other state governments to not delay or obstruct the supply. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia held a press conference on the issue where he talked about how severe the crisis is and how the government is coordinating with the Centre to ensure availability of oxygen.
Delhi's health infrastructure faces a severe hit as top hospitals continue to report depleting oxygen supply.
India's top private hospital in the national capital, Sir Ganga Ram is the latest in the queue to announce oxygen shortage with 58 patients awaiting treatment and 35 waiting outside the hospital for admission, reported news agency ANI.
The crisis is compounded by similar reports emerging from other parts of the national capital where hospitals are racing against time with their oxygen quota.
St Stephen's Hospital in the Tis Hazari area is under acute shortage of oxygen with supply left for only two hours, an official from the hospital told ANI.
"There are around 300 Covid-19 patients admitted to the hospital. There is a limit of only two hours of oxygen supply. We are struggling and seek immediate help. Oxygen supplier Linde India has stopped our supply," a hospital official told ANI on Wednesday.
Shortly after, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia confirmed that the oxygen supply stopped from a plant in Faridabad by a Haryana government official was restored. "Today, the central government intervened and after that, the oxygen meant for Delhi was released from a plant in Faridabad. Yesterday too, the oxygen meant for Delhi was not released from Modinagar plant. We ultimately had to call a very senior minister in the Centre late at the night and get it released," Sisodia said at a press conference.
Haryana’s health minister Anil Vij, who also holds the portfolio of state’s home affairs, reiterated that his state has a sufficient supply of oxygen and it is willing to send it to Delhi but only after meeting their own demand. “We are being forced to give our oxygen to Delhi,” he alleged.
On Tuesday, hospitals in Delhi said they had enough oxygen left for another eight to 24 hours, while some private institutions had enough to cater for only four or five hours.
Television channels showed images of people with empty oxygen cylinders crowding refilling facilities as they scrambled to save stricken relatives in hospital.
"We were completely blocked out of supplies yesterday, but by the end of the day we received some and it is helping us today," said Charu Sachdeva, an official at the state-run Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre.
Delhi, a city of 20 million people, recorded 28,395 new cases and 277 deaths on Tuesday, its highest tally since the pandemic began. Every third person tested for coronavirus proved positive.
About 80 of 142 hospitals in Delhi had no beds left for virus patients, government figures showed.
On Wednesday, India witnessed a jump of 295,041 cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) and 2,023 deaths in the last 24 hours, both figures are the highest ever since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the latest data released by the Union ministry of health and family welfare.
