City sees marked decline in SOS calls from hospitals and patients

New Delhi: Delhi saw a marked decline in the number of SOS calls issued by hospitals and patients across the city due to shortage in oxygen supply as the Capital received 730MT liquid oxygen, AAP leader Raghav Chadha said on Thursday, adding that the Delhi government received only 16 SOS calls for oxygen compared to up to 48 on previous days.

However, he added that about 250MT of this supply came through irregular sources via ad-hoc arrangements by diverting tankers meant for other locations to Delhi. Chadha also requested the Central Government to notify regular supply of at least 75 per cent quantity of oxygen supply keeping in mind that Delhi's daily supply is unlikely to change.

The decrease in SOS calls rang true on ground as well with fewer hospitals issuing SOS calls due to shortage of oxygen cylinders or running out of supply. Of those that did, Balaji Super Specialty hospital in Gurgaon was running critically short of oxygen supply for the third time in as many days and said that they have less than 2 hours of backup left by Thursday evening. The hospital had about 20 patients in the ICU. Patients of Jeevan Jyoti Hospital in Dilshad Garden also appealed for help on social media late on Thursday evening saying that the hospital had told them to make their own arrangements for oxygen cylinders and concentrators as reserves were about to be exhausted.

According to Delhi government's Corona Dashboard, more than a dozen hospitals were still functioning with less than 5 hours of oxygen as of Thursday evening. Ambedkar Nagar hospital, Indian Spinal Injury Centre in Vasant Kunj, Irene Hospital in Kalkaji, Kalra Hospital in Dwarka, and Bimla Devi Hospital, were all left with 1 hour of Oxygen reserves and did not have even a single vacant oxygen bed.