‘Lives at risk, major tragedy may occur’: two Delhi hospitals ring oxygen alarm bells

On May 1, 12 COVID-19 patients, including a senior doctor, had died at south Delhi’s Batra Hospital after the facility ran out of medical oxygen for around 80 minutes in the afternoon

At least two hospitals in Delhi sent out desperate SOS calls to authorities on May 2 to replenish their dwindling oxygen stocks as smaller facilities continued to battle an acute shortage of the live-saving gas amid spiralling coronavirus cases. Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital in Maviya on Sunday sounded an alarm about their depleting stocks around afternoon, saying 50 people, including four newborns, were “at risk”. An official of the hospital said in the afternoon there are around 80 patients, including those suffering from COVID-19, at the hospital. It also has 15 newborns, he said. “There are 50 people, including four newborns, on oxygen support. They are at risk,” he said.