Over the last few days, the national capital's health infrastructure has started to crack under the weight city's fourth COVID-19 wave
Sunil Saggar, CEO, Shanti Mukand Hospital, Delhi on Thursday broke down while talking to media as he spoke about Oxygen crisis at hospital. Mukand said,"...We're hardly left with any oxygen. We've requested doctors to discharge patients, whoever can be discharged...Oxygen may last for 2 hrs or something."
While narrating rthe statu of oxygen in the hospital he said,"Whatever volume of oxygen we were giving, we have tweaked it so that it can last more. Presently, 110 patients are on oxygen, out of which 12 are on ventilators. About 85 patients are on more than 5 litre/minute oxygen, then there are cancer, cardiac patients. It will be very unfortunate, deplorable condition...we as doctors are supposed to give life. If we cannot give them oxygen even, the patient will die".
Meanwhile Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday blamed 'jungle raj' by the Haryana and Uttar Pradesh governments behind the oxygen shortage crisis in Delhi. "The major reason behind Delhi's Oxygen crisis is 'jungle raj' for Oxygen by Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. Their government officers and police are not letting supply from their Oxygen plants come to Delhi. Our officers spoke to theirs and I tried to speak to the Centre but things are not changing on the ground," Sisodia said.
The Central government on Wednesday increased Delhi's oxygen allocation and fixed the same for other states too. The Centre raised the national capital's oxygen quota from 378 metric tonnes to 480 metric tonnes.As many as 24,638 new cases and 249 related deaths were reported in Delhi on Wednesday, the Delhi health department informed. There are currently 85,364 active cases in the city, while the death toll stands at a grim 12,887. The fatality rate in Delhi stands at 1.39 per cent. The COVID-19 positivity rate in the city is 31.28 per cent.