Delhi HC pulls up Centre after 12 die of O2 shortage

NEW DELHI: Twelve patients with Covid-19, including a senior doctor, died at a Delhi hospital on Saturday due to shortage of medical oxygen while several other facilities raised the issue with the Delhi high court, prompting it to pull up the central government and directing it to ensure the Capital city gets its full quota of the crucial element.

The Batra hospital in Tughlakabad Industrial Area raised an alarm at 7am after it did not receive supplies from the allocated vendor.

“Twelve patients have died, including one of our senior consultants who were in the ICU Dr RK Himthani, (the hospital’s head of the gastroenterology department). And, it’s not going to stop. Once the patient’s condition deteriorates then you cannot salvage that patient. There is a ripple effect, there would be many who must have destabilised by now and the number of deaths will certainly go up,” said Dr Sudhanshu Bankata, executive director of the hospital.

“We have lost lives,” he had informed the Delhi high court during its hearing on the shortage of oxygen supply in the city.

The judge said the issue should have been raised with senior advocate Rahul Mehra, who is representing the Delhi government in the high court, before the proceedings began. The court also said that the hospital should learn a lesson and maybe set up its own oxygen plants.

Later, the Delhi high court directed the Centre to ensure that the city receives its allocated 490 MT oxygen supply by the end of the day.

A division bench of justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli gave the direction after being

AFP Younger adults -- between the age of 18 and 44 -- wait in line to get the coronavirus shot at a hospital in Mumbai on a day that phase 3 of the vaccination drive that covers all adults began. However, despite the relaxation, only few private hospitals across the country started inoculating the young adults as state governments have already admitted they haven’t procured vaccines yet.