Delhi: Max hospital in Saket halts admissions due to oxygen shortage
Delhi's Max hospital chain on Friday informed that it is suspending any new patient admissions in all the hospitals in Delhi-NCR till oxygen supplies get stabilize, but later withdrew the order after it received the oxygen supply.
DCP South Delhi tweeted, "Oxygen carrying vehicle has reached Max Smart. Another vehicle is en route for Max East West. Senior Officers are monitoring the situation. Another vehicle is en route for Max East West. Senior Officers are monitoring the situation."
"We have received emergency supplies at Max Saket and Max Smart which will last for another 2 hours," the hospital said. However, in an official statement, Max Hospital said, "Received oxygen supply would last for next 3 hours. We are still awaiting more supplies."
On Friday morning, Healthcare provider Max Healthcare informed that it is suspending any new patient admissions in all the hospitals in Delhi-NCR till oxygen supplies get stabilize.
"We regret to inform that we are suspending any new patient admissions in all our hospitals in Delhi NCR till oxygen supplies stabilize" the healthcare provider tweeted. The tweet was however deleted afterwards.
An SOS was called for oxygen supplies saying the hospital is waiting for oxygen by INOX since late Thursday night (1 am). It said, over 700 patients are admitted in the hospital (Max -Saket) need immediate assistance of oxygen. Max health care has a network of 12 hospitals and five medical facilities in North and West India, offering services in over 30 medical disciplines.
The demand for medical oxygen has increased in Delhi amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. The hospitals in the city have been grappling with depleting supply of medical oxygen.
Yesterday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sought help from his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar to facilitate the transport of oxygen trucks from Haryana to Delhi following which Haryana allocated 140 Matric tonne (MT) oxygen allotted to the national capital.
With alarms of oxygen shortage in the national capital for the last three days, Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) has directed Delhi police to provide a green corridor for vehicles carrying oxygen for supplies in hospitals. Covid-19 management authority of Delhi (DDMA) has also appointed two senior IAS officers to ensure smooth oxygen supply to all hospitals in the national capital.
There has been a flood of complaints regarding shortage of oxygen from several government and private hospitals. For the last three days, one after another hospital raised an alarm regarding oxygen shortage, especially during the late night. Most of the hospitals received oxygen supply late at night.
Delhi reported 24,638 new COVID-19 cases and 249 deaths in the last 24 hours yesterday. The city has 85,364 active cases.
(With inputs from agencies)
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