Bed, oxygen shortage mounts in southern states

CHENNAI/BENGALURU/T’PURAM : Three southern states on Tuesday reported a growing shortage of hospital beds and oxygen supplies, with Karnataka reporting more oxygen-deprivation deaths.Several cases of Covid-19 deaths, allegedly, due to a lack of oxygen, were reported in many parts of Karnataka on Tuesday, though officials in two districts, Kalaburgi and Belagavi, denied the oxygen link. These deaths come on the heels of 24 fatalities caused by oxygen shortage in Chamarajanagar.

Besides, the Karnataka High Court gave the central government till Wednesday to take a call on increasing the state’s quota of remdesivir and oxygen, telling the Centre to keep aside the process of internal consultations and expedite its decision.

Meanwhile, a new scam has been unearthed in Bengaluru, where officials are blocking beds for pay even as needy patients struggle for beds. In Tamil Nadu, too, the hospital situation is starting to worsen. Beds are nearly full in Chennai and Coimbatore, with people waiting for beds for over an hour in ambulances outside hospitals.