COVID crisis: Zero oxygen kills 24 in Chamarajanagar

CHAMARAJANAGAR: At a time when the state is grappling with a severe shortage of ICU beds and oxygen, the Chamarajanagar District Hospital became the latest Covid hotspot -- with about 24 patients dying on Sunday night due to lack of oxygen.Family members and relatives thronged the hospital on Monday morning, grieving over the loss of their loved ones. The horror unfolded even as there were claims from some quarters that, in fact, more people had died.

The Chamarajanagar District Hospital, with 180 beds, has 55 oxygenated beds, 53 ICU beds and 24 ventilators. Although, the situation was normal till Saturday, anxiety gripped the medical staff on Sunday evening as the hospital was left with less than three dozen cylinders which would have barely lasted a few hours. The hospital authorities were expecting oxygen cylinders from neighbouring Mysuru as the liquid oxygen tanker, that was expected to arrive from Ballari, had not reached.

Around 10 pm on Sunday, some of the patients suddenly started feeling breathless due to shortage of oxygen and called up their family members and friends. A few even raised alarm and were in tears, pleading with the paramedical staff for oxygen.The panicked health staff on duty told the attendants to shift the patients to other hospitals saying they were are helpless without oxygen supply. Soon, the situation slipped out of hand and patients started to die, creating panic in the hospital.

In the meantime, the district authorities got in touch with Mysuru MP Prathap Simha, who held a conference call with Chamarajanagar Deputy Commissioner M R Ravi and ADC Nagaraj, who is in charge of oxygen supplies, and ensured that 50 cylinders were rushed to the hospital. This was immediately followed up with 180 more cylinders. However, the tragedy had begun to unfold by then and about 24 patients had died by the time the cylinders reached.Chamarajanagar DC M R Ravi maintained that all the patients did not die due to oxygen shortage as many had comorbidities. 

The deaths occurred over 24 hours and the district administration had managed to meet the oxygen requirement, Chamarajanagar DC M R Ravi insisted. However, he said that there was some delay in the arrival of oxygen from Mysuru.Amid claims that there were oral instructions from officials, restricting oxygen supply to neighbouring districts, the Mysuru district administration claimed that there was no delay in oxygen supply  as over 200 cylinders were transported to Chamarajanagar by 12.30 am on Sunday on the request of the authorities in Chamarajanagar.  District in-charge Minister S Suresh Kumar and Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar rushed to Chamarajanagar on Monday and visited the hospital. Sudhakar said the government has ordered a probe by a senior IAS officer who will submit a detailed report to the government.

Sudhakar maintained that only three patients had actually died due to shortage of oxygen. He said seven of them died between 7 am and 12 noon, three died between 12 pm and 3 pm and seven more died between 3 pm and 7 pm. When asked about the 24 deaths, he said that the inquiry will throw light on it and added that he would not like any statement in this regard.