Oxygen Crisis: 20 people dead, more than 200 lives at stake amid oxygen shortage at Delhi

New Delhi; At least 20 coronavirus patients in Delhi have died after the hospital treating them ran out of oxygen. Authorities at the Jaipur Golden Hospital said that another 200 lives were at risk as they had supplies to last only half-an-hour.

“We lost 20 people amid an oxygen shortage last night [Friday],” hospital’s Medical Director DK Baluja told media. “Oxygen supply to last only half an hour now, more than 200 lives at stake.” Out of the 200 patients, 80 are on oxygen support while 35 are in intensive care unit

The news came a day after 25 “sickest” coronavirus patients died overnight at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi amid a last-minute scramble for oxygen. In a statement released around 8 am on Friday, the director of the hospital had warned that they had oxygen for only two more hours and that 60 more patients were at risk.

As coronavirus cases in the country surge at an unprecedented scale, hospitals in Delhi are facing an acute shortage of oxygen. Major hospitals in the Capital have nearly ran out of oxygen for days now. The situation is worsening by the day with hospitals taking to social media to plead with the government to replenish their oxygen supplies and threatening to stop admissions of new patients.