O2 crunch: Report on Jaipur Golden hosp was just 'preliminary', says Jain

New Delhi: The Delhi government's report to the Delhi High Court about not being certain if oxygen shortage led to the death of 21 COVID-19 patients at Jaipur Golden Hospital here could be considered a "preliminary report, prepared just in a day", Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Friday, amid questions of why his government had initially denied oxygen shortage as a cause of death.

"In this particular case, the report had to be submitted in just a day…You can say it was a preliminary report," he said.

"For a final report, we had set up a new committee, which was supposed to investigate all such deaths, including at Batra Hospital…But the Centre got the panel dissolved through the Lieutenant Governor," he added.

The Delhi government's report to the high court had referred to the findings of the expert committee which said, "In view of the natural virulent course of the disease and lack of any evidence suggestive of oxygen shortage in the case records, the committee was of the opinion that shortage of oxygen as the cause of death could not be ascertained."

"Many of the reported patients had one or multiple co-morbidity like heart disease, diabetes, DM, hypothyroidism and hypertension. All these patients were receiving some form of oxygen therapy and/or ventilator support during the hospital stay," the report had said.

On Wednesday, Jain had said there have been many deaths due to oxygen shortage in Delhi and other places across the country and it was completely false to say no one died for want of the life-saving gas.

He was reacting to the Centre's submission in Rajya Sabha that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported by states and union territories during the second COVID-19 wave.

"There have been many deaths due to oxygen shortage in Delhi and many other places across the country. It was really sad and unfortunate," Jain had said.

The minister had also said the Centre had not asked for data related to such deaths but the government had tried ascertaining the number on its own by setting up the panel.

If the L-G had not stopped us from proceeding with our committee, "we would have got the exact data as to how many people died due to oxygen shortage in Delhi…"