Kin of Agra hospital’s COVID-19 victims demand probe

Owner of facility allegedly talked of conducting a ‘mock-drill’ to check which patient would survive if oxygen support was pulled off

The kin of patients who died at a hospital in Agra have demanded a high-level probe into, and the arrest of the owner of, a hospital after a video of him was circulated in which he allegedly talks of to check which patient would survive if oxygen support was pulled off. Among the victims was police Head Constable Ashok Kumar Singh’s wife, who died on April 26 at Shri Paras Hospital. She was admitted on April 25. Mr. Singh has demanded a high-level probe into the matter. “This was a deliberate act. The doctor of the hospital should be arrested. We want justice,” he said. On the morning of April 26, he says he received a call from the hospital at around 5 a.m. “The doctor said there was a scarcity of oxygen, so shift your patient elsewhere. But when I reached the hospital, they said they could manage for an hour or so more. They also asked me to arrange our own cylinders,” said Mr. Singh.