India Doctor Makes Desperate Plea for Oxygen as Pandemic Supplies Dwindle

MUMBAI - When oxygen supplies at Shri Ram Singh Hospital in New Delhi ran critically low a week ago, Dr. Gautam Singh, who runs the facility, hit the road at night to plead for oxygen from suppliers and also put out a desperate appeal on social media. Finally, a local official helped secure some cylinders to help alleviate the crisis.

But after the nightmare of ensuring that his patients are not left gasping for oxygen, Singh has drastically cut back on the number of COVID-19 patients he takes into his facility even as the raging second wave of the pandemic has led to an acute shortage of hospital beds in the city. “We run the same race daily, we have to beg for oxygen but supplies are still very short. It breaks my heart to turn away people, they come in bad shape, but what can I do?” said Singh in a quivering voice.  “We have the beds but not adequate oxygen and the sad part is we can keep only as many patients as we can support on oxygen as that is the only thing that lets us buy time to save them,” he added.