No Oxygen Deaths? Opposition Takes On Centre

India saw a massive shortage of medical oxygen and hospital beds during the peak of the second Covid wave and many nations had come forward to help amid desperate appeals on social media and marathon court hearings. As the country sees a drop in daily cases and concerns grow over a third wave, the Union Health Ministry's remark on Tuesday that "no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported" by states or union territories has led to widespread criticism. Oxygen shortage led to many deaths in country, including the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said today at a media briefing, hitting out at the government. "It's completely false to say no one died due to oxygen crisis," he stressed. "They (the central government) might soon say that there was no pandemic. If there were no deaths due to oxygen, why were the hospitals approaching Delhi High Court. Everyday they were making desperate appeals." Courts across the country saw marathon hearings over the issue as patients and their families faced shortage and black-marketing of oxygen cylinders.