Eight patients die due to lack of O 2 in Meerut hospitals: Doctors

MEERUT: At least eight Covid-19 patients died in two hospitals of Meerut in the past two days due to shortage of oxygen, said hospital authorities on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters, the administration of both hospitals admitted these patients could have been saved had there been proper supply of oxygen.

Three patients died on Sunday night at Anand Hospital, a private facility where 173 people were undergoing treatment when a scarcity of oxygen was reported to the administration.

The officials managed to shift 10 critical patients who required high-flow oxygen and also managed to provide a few cylinders to maintain oxygen supply in the hospital. Dr Subhash Yadav, who is part of the hospital’s management, said the facility required 400 cylinders but got only 90 cylinders and now has been increased to 200.

“Under such circumstances they shifted critical patients to other hospitals, but three patients succumbed due to shortage of oxygen,” he told reporters.

Authorities at KMC hospital in Meerut, another private facility, said three to four patients died on Monday and two or three on Sunday due to shortage of oxygen. This was confirmed by Dr Sunil Gupta, a doctor at the hospital, but later denied by the hospital staff.

Meerut chief medical officer Dr Akhilesh Mohan said the hospitals had not given any report about the death of patients due to shortage of oxygen. He accepted that there was shortage of oxygen but added that everything possible was being done to maintain adequate supply.