As coronavirus infections continue to rise in India leading to a massive shortage of medical resources, five patients died at a private hospital in Uttarakhand’s Roorkee reportedly after the facility ran out of medical oxygen for 30 minutes.
The incident occurred during the wee hours of Wednesday morning, officials said.
According to a doctor working at the facility, the hospital’s medical oxygen supply was disrupted between 1.30 am to 2 am. While one of the deceased was on ventilator support, the other four patients were dependent on medical oxygen supply, the doctor said adding that one the deceased was a woman.
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A magisterial probe has been ordered into the incident, Haridwar District Magistrate C Ravishankar said on Wednesday.
A medical audit of the hospital is also being conducted by a team comprising Chief Medical Superintendent of Roorkee's joint government hospital and two doctors, he said.
The team will give a detailed report in a week on the availability of oxygen at the hospital, demand and supply ratio and the number of patients there, Ravishankar said.
He further said stern legal action will be taken against those responsible for the incident.
This incident comes close on the heels of a similar one in Karnataka that left 24 Covid-19 patients dead in a district hospital in Chamarajanagar due to alleged shortage of oxygen.
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Meanwhile, India reported a record 3,780 Covid-19 fatalities on Tuesday, its highest single-day toll since the start of the pandemic. With the latest addition, the country’s coronavirus fatalities have risen to 2,26,188.
India also logged 3,82,315 fresh Covid-19 infections during the last 24 hours, pushing the total caseload to 2,06,65,148 according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Wednesday.
(With PTI inputs)
