Mumbai: At least 38 COVID patients lost their lives in the last few hours due to fire in hospital or lack of oxygen in the hospital where they were admitted in. Thirteen COVID-19 patients in the ICU of Vijay Vallabh hospital in Virar, Mumbai North were charred to death after a fire broke out in the hospital.
Twenty-one COVID patients in the hospital were rushed out after a fire broke out in the air conditioning unit of the hospital at 3 AM on Friday.
The fire in the Vijay Vallabh hospital started in the air conditioning unit of the hospital's ICU. There were 17 patients in the ICU at that time. 21 patients were moved to nearby hospitals by morning.
Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackeray has announced Rs 5 lakh each to the family members of the patients who died and Rs 1 lakh each to the critically injured patients.
After knowing about the fire incident, the CM spoke to the concerned officials and instructed them to give priority to ensure that the treatment of other patients continues unobstructed.
"The cause of the fire should be investigated properly. The administration has been instructed to see whether the appropriate fire safety measures were taken in the hospital and conduct a proper inquiry into it," said Thackeray, in the statement.
An official from Maharashtra state fire service department said, "There were total of 90 patients in four-storey hospital building. While the first floor is the general ward, the second floor has ICU facility and 17 patients were admitted at the time of the incident. Rest two floors are functional as special wards."
On the other hand, in New Delhi, 25 critically ill patients who were on high flow oxygen at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital have died in the last 24 hours. The hospital said on Thursday morning that it was running dangerously low on oxygen and had only about an hour's supply left.
In another incident in New Delhi, 25 critically ill patients who were on high flow oxygen at
Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi have died in the last 24 hours, apparently due to lack of oxygen. The hospital had said on Thursday that it was running dangerously low on oxygen and had only about an hour's supply left.
Sources said that all the patients were critical and on high flow oxygen support. Ventilators and Bipap were not working effectively. The medical staff had to resort to manual ventilation in ICUs and emergency department.
There are over 700 COVID-19 patients admitted to the hospital. The hospital had received an oxygen supply late on Wednesday night. At the time, the hospital had said that the supply would last for "a couple of hours." However, later the hospital said that the dead COVID patients were critically ill.