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In an incident on Gudi Padva in Maharashtra, 10 Covid-19 patients have died in two private hospitals in the Vasai town due to a shortage of medical oxygen on Tuesday. Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VMC) confirmed the fatalities that occurred at the Vinayak Hospital and Riddhi Vinayak Hospital but denied the allegations about the shortage. As per reports, both hospitals are well equipped and has sufficient medical oxygen for all the patients.
VVMC further denied the claims saying that they had procured 10 tonnes of medical oxygen to cater to all the weight private Covid hospitals in its jurisdiction, and so there is no question of any patient dying due to oxygen shortage.
As per reports, there are over 7000 active coronavirus cases in Vasai, of which 3000 odd need regular oxygen facilities. The authorities claimed that the patients were suffering from some serious comorbidities. Nala Sopara MLA Kshitij Thakur drew the attention of PM Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to the development and appealed for help in the matter.
"There is an acute shortage of oxygen in the Vasai taluka. Notably, the supply can run for only three hours. Unfortunately, three lives have already been lost due to no oxygen supply in our area. I request to look into this serious matter and provide ample oxygen supply to the tehsil. This will prevent any more loss of lives," Thakur urged. "The government must take serious note...It seems to focus only on lockdown. But we also need oxygen beds, ICU beds, ventilators, Remdesivir, etc," Darekar said, adding this was not an auspicious development on Gudi Padwa.
As the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic takes over the country, several states have claimed a shortage of vaccine against Covid-19. Several states have reached out to the Centre for assistance as many claimed that their stocks will only last a few days. Amidst the claims of these states, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said that the country has enough doses and requested state governments to not create panic among people.
Maharashtra is one of the worst-hit states, reporting the highest number of cases and deaths in the country. Concerned about Maha's cases, the state Health Minister said that the state is facing a Covid-19 vaccine crunch and demanded 40 lakh doses every week from the Centre.
However, recent reports suggest that there has been a significant drop in fresh Covid cases, with the state registering 51,751 Covid-19 infections, taking the total tally to 5.64 lakh and 258 related facilities. Whereas India has reported 1,61,736 new Covid-19 cases so far, 879 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total at 12,64,698. The recovery rate of India's Covid cases has reached 1,22,53,697.
(with inputs from agencies)