Five COVID-19 patients, including two women, getting treatment in a private hospital in Hubballi passed away on Tuesday evening leading to speculation about shortage of medical oxygen.
While the family members of the deceased said that oxygen shortage was the reason for the deaths, District Health Officer Yashwanth Madinkar, who visited Lifeline Hospital located on Gokul Road, said that it was not related to oxygen shortage as the hospital had its own oxygen concentrator and adequate stock of cylinders.
All the five patients who passed away on Tuesday were on ventilators and were in critical condition.
Dr. Madinkar told The Hindu that he visited the hospital and took stock of oxygen and other facilities there. It did not appear that the deaths were due to oxygen shortage. The cause of death of the patients would be looked into in detail before arriving at any conclusion. But oxygen shortage was not the reason for the deaths, he said.
He said that the Death Audit Committee would inquire into the issue to know the cause of death and related issues.
He said that 21 patients were getting treated in the private hospital which has 30 jumbo oxygen cylinders, 2 kl capacity oxygen container and an oxygen concentrator. An alarm system to alert discrepancy in shortage of oxygen is also in place in the ICU, he added.
