6 patients die following oxygen crisis at private hospital in Amritsar; CM orders probe

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 24

Six patients died at a private hospital here on Friday night allegedly due to shortage of medical oxygen.

The deceased included five Covid patients.

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh ordered the Amritsar Deputy Commissioner (DC) to initiate a thorough probe into the incident.

Neelkanth hospital authorities said they had apprised the district administration of the shortage of oxygen two days ago. A hospital official said they had also informed the families and asked them to shift the patients to other hospitals.

The shortage of oxygen in the district was reported three days ago when Government Medical College had shifted to its buffer stock. Later, the district administration and Medical Education Minister OP Soni had claimed that oxygen supply had been restored.

However, the local chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Friday apprised the deputy commissioner of the shortage faced by private hospitals.

The problem of shortage of oxygen has partially been due to the administration diverting the entire supply to Government Medical College which is handling the maximum Covid cases.

The IMA alleged that private hospitals are not being given oxygen by vendors and police guards have been deployed outside the godowns so that the maximum supply is reserved for government hospitals.

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• Gurdwara holds ‘oxygen langer’ for Covid patients in Ghaziabad
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Manjit Singh, attendant of a 33-year-old pregnant woman admitted to Neelkanth hospital, said, “The administration has the responsibility to care for all patients. Patients admitted to private hospitals are as important as those admitted to government hospitals.”

He said he had been asked to shift the patient to another private hospital. “If one hospital does not have oxygen, what is the guarantee that the other would not face the same problem,” he said.

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