Oxygen crisis in Delhi: Ganga Ram Hospital cries for help, Max Hospital sends SOS to Kejriwal govt

Delhi's Sir Ganga Ram Hospital has said that 25 of its "sickest" coronavirus patients have died in the last 24 hours, and the lives of another 60 such patients are at risk, amid a serious dearth of oxygen in the national capital. Max Hospital, on the other hand, had said that it will not admit any more COVID-19 patients until the hospital's oxygen supplies stabilised, but deleted the tweet in minutes.

Ganga Ram's medical director said on Thursday morning, "25 sickest patients have died in the past 24 hrs at the hospital. Oxygen will last another 2 hours."

Also Read: Oxygen shortage myth or reality?

"Ventilators and Bipap not working effectively. Need oxygen to be airlifted urgently. Lives of another 60 sickest patients in peril," said the hospital's director. Meanwhile, the government sources told India Today that a balance of 3 metric tonne oxygen is there at Ganga Ram Hospital and an INOX tanker is there at present. Sources also added that no patient has died due to lack of oxygen.

Oxygen emergency at Ganga Ram Hospital

Giving an update on the oxygen crisis at the hospital, Dr. DS Rana, chairman of board, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said, "The trucks from INOX are on their way and we are waiting for them to arrive. All we need is an uninterrupted and timely supply of the oxygen."

The hospital sent an SOS to the Delhi government on Thursday, saying there is only five hours of oxygen left at the facility, urging that the supplies be restored immediately.

"At 8 pm, the oxygen in-store at the hospital was for five hours for peripheral use till 1 am and less for high flow use. Need urgent oxygen supplies," an official at Ganga Ram Hospital said.

Presently, there are 510 COVID-19 patients, comprising 142 patients on high flow oxygen support, admitted in the hospital.

Also Read: Despite COVID-19 crisis at home, India doubled oxygen exports in FY21

Max Hospital distress call

The top private hospital, Max Hospital, sent out a similar SOS call to the Delhi government on Thursday morning saying that over 700 of its coronavirus patients are at risk as there is less than an hour's oxygen left at the facility.

"We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi NCR till oxygen supplies stabilise," the hospital tweeted. However, it deleted the post in a few minutes.

"Less than an hour's Oxygen supplies at Max Smart Hospital & Max Hospital Saket. Awaiting promised fresh supplies from INOX since 1 am. @drharshvardhan @msisodia @PMOIndia @ArvindKejriwal @PiyushGoyal @SatyendarJain over 700 patients admitted, need immediate assistance," Max Hospital said in a tweet.

Meanwhile, DCP South Delhi has said that an oxygen-carrying vehicle has reached Max Smart and another one is on its way to Max East West. "Senior Officers are monitoring the situation," said the DCP.

Also Read: COVID-19 crisis: Centre hikes Delhi's oxygen quota from 378 MT to 480 MT

The Delhi High Court (HC) had on Wednesday night directed the Centre to "forthwith" provide oxygen by any means to hospitals in Delhi, observing it "seems human life is not important for the state."

The government, represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, assured the court that it will ensure the supply of increased allocation of 480 metric tonnes of oxygen to Delhi and that the same will reach the national capital without any hindrances.