As the macabre crisis of shortage of oxygen supply and overwhelmed healthcare system continues in Haryana, five more COVID-19 patients lost their lives due to the lack of oxygen supply at a private hospital in Hisar district.
This is the third such incident in the state in the last 24 hours. Four COVID patients each had died in private hospitals in Gurugram and Rewari due to oxygen crisis on Sunday.
The State Government has marked an inquiry into all the three incidents to find out the lapses that led to the deaths of critical COVID patients.
The latest incident occurred at Soni Burn Hospital, Hisar on early Monday morning. Following the incident, the kin of the deceased held a protest outside the hospital premises. Police was also deployed in and around the hospital premises to prevent any untoward incident.
“Five COVID patients including three from Hisar and one each from Delhi and Punjab died on early Monday morning due to the shortage of oxygen supply in the hospital,” Dr Rajat Soni, Director, Soni Burn Hospital, Hisar said while talking to The Pioneer.
He said that the private agency from where we procure oxygen cylinders refused to sell it during Sunday night following which the hospital faced shortage of oxygen.
At present, there are eight critical COVID patients admitted in our hospital, he added.
Another official in the hospital alleged that there is no help from the State Government in ensuring oxygen supply for the critical patients. Even after repeated attempts, we did not get any help from the government to procure oxygen cylinders, the official said.
The concerned CMO and other senior officials have been apprized of the current situation. 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 due to COVID-19, the official added.
As the state is witnessing an alarming surge in COVID cases, the private hospitals have been sending out SOS messages for resources.
Home-cum-Health Minister Anil Vij on Monday said that an inquiry has been marked into the incidents of Hisar, Rewari and Gurugram to find out the reasons for lapses that led to the death of COVID patients. Strict action will be taken against those who are found guilty, he said.
The Minister said that the private hospitals are facing shortage of oxygen supply due to various reasons. We have directed the state police to keep a check on black marketing of medical oxygen cylinders and a helpline has also been launched in this regard, he added.
Due to an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 cases, the demand for medical oxygen and ICU beds has increased across the state. The State Government has also requested the Centre to increase its oxygen quote to 270 metric tonnes per day.
Notably, Haryana on Monday reported the highest ever 75 deaths in a single day due to COVID and 11504 fresh infections.