New Delhi – At least 22 coronavirus critically ill patients died Wednesday at an Indian hospital when their fans’ oxygen supply was cut off for about half an hour due to a leak.
“According to the information available to us, the leaks were observed at the oxygen tank that supplies oxygen to these patients,” Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope told reporters. “The disrupted supply could be linked to the deaths of hospital patients.”
The incident took place at the Dr. Zakir Hussain Municipal Hospital, a dedicated COVID-19 treatment unit in Nashik, Maharashtra.
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Maharashtra is the hardest hit state in India the second devastating wave of COVID-19 infections. There are almost 4 million cases of coronavirus in the state, which reports over 60,000 new infections daily.
“The pipes connecting the hospital’s ventilator system to a large oxygen tank leaked this morning,” Sajan Sonawane, the police officer in charge of the investigation, told CBS News. “While the hospital staff repaired the leaks, which lasted about 35 minutes, the oxygen supply to the ventilators was interrupted … 22 patients are confirmed dead.”
All 22 victims benefited from the life support of the fan. The hospital currently treats over 100 coronavirus patients.
Police filed a case and began official investigations into the incident, Sonawane told CBS News.
“The tragedy in a hospital in Nashik due to the leaking of the oxygen tank is painful. Anxious about the loss of life because of it. Condolences to the grieving families in this sad hour,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote on Twitter.
The state of Maharashtra is among a dozen Indian states that have called for emergency aid from the federal government for acute oxygen shortages, hospital beds, vaccines and medicines.
At least four major hospitals in India’s capital, New Delhi, also reported a lack of oxygen on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Modi’s government has faced widespread criticism in recent weeks over its shortcomings, with opposition parties accusing it of mismanagement, unpreparedness and insensitivity.
Uddhav Thackeray, the chief minister of the state of Maharashtra, previously claimed that he was told that Modi was busy with election campaigns in another state when he called his office to ask for an emergency supply of oxygen.
DANISH SIDDIQUI / REUTERS
Amid growing criticism, Modi addressed the nation on Wednesday night, assuring people that steps are being taken to ensure an adequate supply of oxygen, medicines, hospital beds and vaccines.
“I want to assure you that the government is with you,” Modi concluded.
On Wednesday, while India’s second wave has yet to show signs of a peak, France said it would impose a mandatory 10-day quarantine for travelers arriving from India.
Food worries in France and elsewhere about travel in India are not just frantic spread of COVID-19 in the country of more than 1.3 billion people, but also the spread of new strains that have appeared in the country, including a “double mutant” and, since Wednesday, an identified “triple mutant” variant of the coronavirus.
Although no conclusive data have been collected yet, some epidemiologists fear that, as in the case of variants detected in Brazil and elsewhere, these new strains could be more infectious and possibly cause more health complications than the original virus.
India reported 15.6 million cases and more than 182,000 deaths caused by COVID-19, becoming the second most affected country in the world, behind the United States alone.