Oxygen shortage: Delhi’s Madhukar Rainbow Children Hospital raises alarm, says 50 lives at risk

PTI, May 2, 2021, 1:33 PM IST

New Delhi: Delhi’s Madhukar Rainbow Children Hospital Sunday sounded an alarm about their dwindling stocks of oxygen, saying 50 people, including four newborns, are “at risk”.

An official of the in Malviya Nagar hospital said there are around 80 patients, including those suffering from Covid-19, at the hospital. It also has 15 newborns, he said.

“There 50 people, including four newborns, on oxygen support,” he said.

The hospital does not have a liquid oxygen storage tank and depends on oxygen cylinders from a private vendor.

“It has become a daily fire-fight exercise in the absence of a continuous supply. We require around 125 oxygen cylinders a day,” the official said.

On Saturday, 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.

Several hospitals in Delhi continue to grapple with a shortage of oxygen, as coronavirus cases continue to spike every passing day.