The Pramod Sawant administration said to the Mumbai Supreme Court two days after 26 patients were killed in Goa’s leading government hospital because of the lack of oxygen between 2 a.m. and six p.m. Thursday, 15 other patients also died in the morning of Thursday, trying to convince the Court that all these deaths cannot be attributed to the oxygen disruption.
However, on Thursday the judges who had reprimanded the state government because they did not ensure a steady supply of oxygen had not bought the hospital’s defence.
“Statistics show that the deaths are happening due to a lack of oxygen. Do not try to deny the fact,” the high court’s Goa bench of justices MS Sonak and Nitin Jambre told the state’s top law officer, advocate general Devidas Pangam.
“We are aware that the issue is not sorted out yet,” the bench said.
The 15 deaths at the Goa Medical College and Hospital come just two days after 26 people died at the same hospital due to a lack of oxygen, prompting judges to order the Pramod Sawant government to drop everything and ensure that no deaths occur “at least one night.”
The Goa Medical College acknowledged 15 more deaths between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. at a high court hearing on Thursday morning, but insisted that not all of them died due to a disruption in oxygen supply, as claimed by the petitioners.
Shruti Chaturvedi, one of the petitioners and the founder of the Goa Covid network of volunteers, had earlier tweeted news of the 15 deaths.
“Despite raising SOSes, police and health dept officials reaching GMC in the wee hours of the night after the alarm of oxygen fluctuations in the central pipeline was raised, 15 people died last night. Again.”
After the oxygen pressure began to drop overnight, relatives of patients raised an alarm, and health department officials and police arrived at the hospital to assist. However, it took several hours for someone to diagnose the problem and restore a steady supply of oxygen.
Dr Shivanand Bandekar, the dean of the medical college, acknowledged that the oxygen pressure had dropped during the night, but claimed that it was not the cause of all the deaths.
The deaths at the state-run hospital due to a lack of oxygen have been a major embarrassment for the Pramod Sawant government, which has been roundly chastised by opposition parties, civil society groups, and at least one ruling party MLA for failing to do enough.
