26 die due to O2 shortage at Goa’s premier govt hospital

Panaji: Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane made a startling announcement on Tuesday — that many Covid patients were dying due to oxygen supply problems in the early hours of every morning at Goa Medical College, and that 26 had died between the same hours on Tuesday. The minister asked the Bombay high court to probe goings-on at GMC.

“Due to interrupted supply of oxygen, we feel that between 2am and 6am many people are dying in GMC. There is a need for an inquiry directly by the high court. There are petitions pending before it. The HC can appoint an expert committee to find out why deaths are happening between 2am and 6am and come out with a white paper,” he said.

For days, TOI has reported a nightly drop of oxygen that often leaves patients gasping for breath. With no help forthcoming, doctors and nurses have been forced to improvise, sometimes hooking up to three patients to a single oxygen cylinder.

Rane’s statement came on a day that Goa recorded 75 Covid deaths, its highest-ever single-day tally, of which 48 patients died at GMC.