For the first time, a state has accepted that there were deaths due to oxygen shortage during the second wave of Covid-19 this year. Andhra Pradesh informed the Centre on Tuesday evening that some patients who were on ventilator support while undergoing treatment for coronavirus infection died because of a lack of oxygen, a government official told CNN-News18.
According to a health ministry official, so far the Centre had received responses from 13 states, all denying deaths due to oxygen shortage. Only Punjab put 4 deaths in the ‘suspected’ category.
The reply comes weeks after minister of state for health Bharti Pravin Pawar denied in Parliament any death due to oxygen shortage as reported from states. She was responding to a question on whether a large number of Covid-19 patients died on roads and hospitals due to an acute scarcity of oxygen during the second wave of the pandemic. This triggered an uproar, with the opposition pointing to a glut of social media appeals and cases filed by hospitals desperately looking for help for patients on oxygen support.
After this, the union health ministry had written to states and union territories, specifically asking them about any deaths due to oxygen shortage.
According to a health ministry official, the data from all states will be collated and presented in Parliament by August 13 before the monsoon session ends.
Delhi’s deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, meanwhile, said that his government did not receive any letter from the Centre inquiring about deaths due to a lack of oxygen.
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