11 Covid patients die, kin vandalise hospitals

ON MONDAY, AN AUDIO MESSAGE OF THE MAYOR OF PALGHAR’S VASAI, PURPORTEDLY HIGHLIGHTING A SEVERE SHORTAGE OF OXYGEN WAS WIDELY SHARED ON SOCIAL MEDIA

MUMBAI: Angry relatives stormed two hospitals at Nalla Sopara in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on Tuesday after at least 11 Covid-19 patients died on Monday night allegedly due to oxygen shortage. The authorities, however, insisted there was no shortage.

“We thought my father would recover but he died because of a lack of oxygen supply... the hospital gave us false assurances,” said Rahul Verma, whose father, Ram Babu, 52, died on Monday.

He added his father had a heart disease and was admitted to the Vinayaka Hospital for seven days for Covid-19 treatment.

Rajendra Kamble, a police officer, said there were deaths at the two hospitals — Vinayaka Hospital and Riddhi Vinayak Hospital — but insisted they were not due to the shortage. He added the 11 patients were in critical condition. “...the hospitals had three oxygen cylinders functional, and we are investigating the matter,” said Kamble.

Earlier on Monday, an audio message of Rajiv Patil, the mayor of Palghar’s Vasai, purportedly highlighting a severe shortage of oxygen needed for patients was widely shared on social media.

Patil confirmed the authenticity of the message, and appealed to the state government to solve the matter.

Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVMC) health department, too, maintained the deaths had nothing to do with the oxygen shortage. Ganesh Patil,vvmc’s public relations officer, said the Vinayaka Hospital received 139 jumbo oxygen cylinders and one dura cylinder (of 28 jumbo cylinder capacity) on Sunday.

Riddhi Vinayak Hospital also Sunday received around 50 jumbo cylinders and 60 on Monday, according to Ganesh Patil. A total of 110 jumbo cylinders were there for patients, he added.