As Delhi continues to battle with the scarcity of oxygen amid surge in COVID-19 cases, Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party Chief Arvind Kejriwal has urged the Centre and other decision makers to provide adequate amount of oxygen to the capital city. The CM said, "I request the decision-makers with folded hands to provide oxygen to Delhi."
Despite being informed that Delhi requires 976 tons of oxygen daily the city has been allotted only 490 tons of oxygen. Yesterday, Delhi received only 312 tons of oxygen. The CM asked that how will it work if so less amount of oxygen is provided.
Owing to a crisis situation in the Union Territory, the CM besides urging the Centre had also written to the other states, industrialists to provide adequate oxygen if available. Many hospitals in Delhi have issued SOS alerts as most of them are running out of oxygen due to which the treatments of COVID-19 patirnts is being halted resulting to a rise in deaths.
On Saturday morning, several hospitals sounded the alarm over dwindling supplies, even as others reported deaths purportedly due to the dwindling supplies.
According to reports, oxygen supply ran out at Delhi's Batra Hospital at around 12.45 pm. However, the hospital only received supplies over an hour later. Several individuals including one doctor reportedly died in the hospital during this time.
Earlier in the day, Aakash Hospital had reportedly flagged an acute shortage, contending that their existing supplies would only last till 2 pm.
Fortis Hospital in the Vasant Kunj area stated that more than a hundred lives were at stake. Speaking to a news channel, hospital authorities said that while they had more than a hundred critical patients on oxygen support, they had now been left with six hours of liquid medical oxygen backup. "Our supplier is INOX, but we are unable to sustain with such low supply. We are seeking urgent help from the concerned authorities to avoid the disaster,” the publication quoted them as saying.
The Delhi High Court while hearing a batch of petitions of different hospitals and individuals facing a shortage of oxygen supply, beds, and essential medicines Saturday it directed all Delhi hospitals to submit complete data on COVID patients occupying beds in their facility from April 1 onwards.
The bench directed all hospitals of the Central government, Delhi government, and private hospitals including nursing homes to provide information on daily admissions, daily discharge, number of patients beyond 10 days and bed being occupied by them, from April 1 onwards.
The court had questioned the Centre as to why four cryogenic tankers, which were meant for Delhi to treat COVID-19 patients and held up by the Rajasthan government, have not been released yet despite the court's earlier orders.
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli said let necessary steps be taken to fulfill the assurance given by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta on April 26 that these tankers will be released.
