6 die due to low pressure oxygen in govt hospital in Madhya Pradesh

At least six COVID-19 patients died in the ICU of a government hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Shahdol due to low pressure in the medical oxygen supply, an official said Sunday.

The incident took place at the Government Medical College Hospital here on the middle night of Saturday and Sunday.

“Of the 62 patients admitted to the room of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the COVID-19 center of the medical school, six patients died last night due to the low pressure of liquid oxygen,” said the dean of the facility, Dr. Milind Shiralkar.

The other critically ill patients are safe, he said.

“Experts have been called in and the causes are being investigated,” he said.

Shiralkar said the liquid oxygen supply at the hospital was running out on Saturday night.

Providers were constantly being contacted, but the vehicle did not arrive until late at night, reducing the pressure of oxygen delivered to patients, he said.

The official said there had been a shortage of oxygen supply since the last few days.

The oxygen plant on campus has a storage capacity of 10 kilo liters per day, the official said, adding that liquid oxygen is brought in from other states.

The hospital has 62 ICU beds where critical patients with COVID-19 are admitted, he added.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Congress Speaker Kamal Nath asked the government how long the deaths from lack of oxygen will continue in the state.

In a tweet, Nath said: “Now Shahdol sends us very sad news of deaths due to lack of oxygen? Why did the government not wake up even after the deaths in Bhopal, Indore, Ujjain, Sagar, Jabalpur, Khandwa , Khargone due to shortage of oxygen? After all, how long will the deaths continue due to lack

oxygen in the state?

Calling the situation terrifying, Nath also said there was a shortage of Remdesivir injections used in the treatment of the coronavirus, claiming that the key antiviral drug and oxygen were available only on paper and not in reality.

The state government has yet to react to the Shahdol incident.

According to the state health bulletin, 142 new cases of the viral infection were detected in Shahdol on Saturday, bringing the number of cases in the district to 4,528.