5 Covid patients die, kin blame O2 crisis

HISAR: Five Covid-19 patients, including one from Delhi, died at a private hospital here on Monday with relatives of the deceased holding a protest attributing their death to alleged grave shortage of medical oxygen at the facility.

Police said they were verifying the allegations of oxygen shortage after relatives of some of the deceased held a protest outside the facility. The hospital administration was, however, not available for making comments on the matter.

Three of the patients who died at the hospital hailed from Haryana’s Hisar district, one belonged to Delhi and other one was from Punjab.

A police official said the bodies of the deceased were sent to the Agroha Medical College here following protocols and guidelines issued by the government for dealing with those who die of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, police have been deployed in and around the hospital to prevent any untoward incident. Urban Estate Police Station in-charge Jagdish said that they were verifying allegations levelled by the family members of the deceased.

He, however, said so far they have not received any formal complaint from any of the family member of the deceased alleging any negligence on part of the hospital.

He also said Hisar’s Chief Medical Officer will investigate the entire incident. Any action by the police, if needed, will be taken based on CMO’s investigation report, the police official he added.

This incident came within 24 hours of two similar incidents in Haryana.

On Sunday, four patients had died in a private hospital in Rewari allegedly due to a shortage of medical oxygen following which the district administration launched an investigation to ascertain the reason behind the deaths. The Gurgaon district administration had also ordered a probe into the death of four patients in a private hospital after reports that they died due to alleged oxygen shortage in the facility. The hospital authorities in Gurgaon, however, had denied these reports and said those who died were critically ill.

The opposition Congress, meanwhile, slammed the BJPJJP led dispensation over the “oxygen shortage” issue.

“Supply of oxygen to hospitals in Haryana should be made without delay,” state Congress president Kumari Selja said in a tweet on Monday.