Uttar Pradesh: Six more COVID-19 patients die due to lack of oxygen in Aligarh, Lucknow

After recent incidents in Lucknow and Kannauj , five more COVID-19 patients died in a private hospital in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday night due to lack of oxygen.

Another coronavirus positive patient died in Charak Hospital in Lucknow due to lack of oxygen on Wednesday night. Hospital authorities admitted shortage of oxygen cylinders and requested relatives to shift critical patients on oxygen support to other hospitals.

The incident was reported from SJD Multi-Speciality Hospital in Dhanipur area on GT Road in Aligarh. The District Health department had reserved 40 oxygen beds for the treatment of coronavirus positive patients. Many Covid-19 infected patients were admitted in critical conditions in the private hospital.

Relatives of those died alleged that there was shortage of oxygen cylinders since Tuesday in the hospital despite that the hospital management did not care to arrange cylinders. On Wednesday night, the stock of the oxygen was over and five critical patients on oxygen support gasped to death.

The hospital authorities, however, denied death due to lack of oxygen. “These five covid-19 poistive patients were on ventilator and only 5 percent of their lungs were functioning. They died due to their critical conditions,” clarified Dr Sanjeev Sharma, Covid Care Unit In-charge of the private covid hospital on Thursday morning.

“How can five patients die at same time due to their critical conditions. They are lying and offering excuses at the behest of the district administration to cover up oxygen short supply related deaths,” fumed a relative of a patient.

Another relative said that they will take up the matter with the Chief Minister and file a case against the hospital authorities for medical negligence. “They charged us exorbitantly against the government approved rates for oxygen-ventilator beds but left our dear ones to die due to lack of oxygen,” he alleged.

Those who died have been identified as Sarita Rani, Mukesh, Anil Kashyap, Jaiveer and Lalit Prasad.

Earlier, four each covid-19 patients had died in Lucknow’s Lohia Hopsital and district hospital Kannauj due to disruption in oxygen supply after shortage. Lucknow is still facing acute shortage of oxygen in about 60 government and private hospitals as supply from Bokaro and other places have yet to arrive.

Many hospitals have put up ‘oxygen out of stock’ notices on their display boards and advised relatives to shift their patients to higher hospitals having oxygen stock for treatment.