Delhi's premier hospitals have flagged oxygen shortage amid the spurt in Covid cases.
Hospitals in Delhi kept sending distress messages for the seventh straight day today. One private hospital said it has barely an hour's supply. Lockdown in the national capital has been extended for another week.Here are the Top 10 points in this big story:
Delhi's Pentamed Hospital, which has 50 patients on oxygen support, said if it doesn't get new supplies in an hour, lives will be at risk.
Pentamed Hospital has sent two of its vehicles to different plants -- in Bahadurgarh and Bawana -- for getting oxygen supply but there are long queues, said Deepak Sethi, the manager of the Pentamed Hospital.
Delhi's Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, which has at least 100 patients on oxygen support, said it would not admit any more patients. "We got a new stock at 1 am but it will last till only 1 pm," a hospital source said.
After NDTV reported that Fortis hospital is running low, AAP's Raghav Chadha tweeted: "One cryogenic tanker carrying liquid oxygen reserves is on it's way from West Delhi. Should reach within minutes. Have spoken to the hospital administration".
Twenty-five people died on Friday night at the Jaipur Golden Hospital in Delhi due to shortage of medical oxygen, a top official at the hospital had said.
On Saturday, Delhi's premier Gangaram Hospital flagged oxygen shortage four times in 24 hours.
On Thursday, the city had recorded a positivity rate of 36.24 per cent -- the highest since the pandemic reached. While it dropped to 32.27 per cent last evening, the number of fatalities reached a record high of 357.
The number of cases dropped from last week's 28,000-plus a day to over 24,000 -- a high active caseload that has kept the city's hospitals at a breaking point, with a galloping crisis of beds, drugs and oxygen.
Announcing the lockdown, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said, "Corona still continues to wreak havoc in the city. Public opinion is that lockdown should increase. So the lockdown is being extended for one week".
Nearly 3.5 lakh new cases were reported this morning across the country, logged over the previous 24 hours. The active caseload is now over 25.5 lakh and nearly two lakh people have died.
