15 more die at Goa hospital after drop in oxygen levels

PANAJI: Fifteen patients at staterun Goa Medical College and Hospital died allegedly due to oxygen shortage early on Thursday despite high court directives to shore up supplies, barely two days after 26 people succumbed to low oxygen flow at the state’s premier hospital.

Oxygen levels dropped between 2am and 6am on Thursday

and 15 people lost their lives, hospital authorities told the Bombay high court at Goa, a day after the judges asked the state to do whatever it takes to ensure no deaths occur due to oxygen shortage for “at least one night”.

“Around 15 people lost their lives last night between 2am and 6am at GMC the hours during which the oxygen levels have been dropping for every night for the last five days or so,” the hospital told the court via Advocate

General Devidas Pangam.

On Tuesday, 26 patients being treated for Covid 19 died between 2am and 6am with Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane saying the hospital got only a third of the 1,200 oxygen cylinders required and pushing for a probe by the high court.

Oxygen shortages were reported in multiple wards of the GMC that are set aside for treating Covid patients on Wednesday night with the situation being a repeat of the previous four days when oxygen ran out.

“Despite raising SOSes, police and health dept officials reaching GMC in the wee hours... after the alarm of oxygen fluctuations in the central pipeline was raised, 15 people died last night. Again,” tweeted Shruti Chaturvedi, one of the petitioners.

Medical college dean Dr Shivanand Bandekar said not all the deaths could be attributed to dropping oxygen pressure. The dean had earlier admitted to shortages and said that shortages could also claim patients’ lives in the long term.

“Reduced oxygen saturation lasting for a significant duration causes tissue hypoxia and irreversible tissue damage. This is worse in the presence of comorbidities and old age. The death following such hypoxemia and organ hypoxia may be immediate, or most of the time after some period of time,” he said.