COVID-19 oxygen crisis: No supply in six private Delhi hospitals, others running low, Manish Sisodia tells Centre

At least six Delhi hospitals have run out of liquid medical oxygen, as per a letter written by Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to Union health minister Harsh Vardhan on Thursday. He said that while the six hospitals have exhausted their supply, other hospitals have only a few hours of oxygen supply left. Here is the full list of hospitals mentioned in the letter:

| Sr No | Hospital Name | Owned by | Oxygen stock availability

As per  NDTV, the Delhi government had also flagged the same issue within minutes of a Delhi High Court order asking the Centre to ensure that the National Capital receives its full quota of oxygen cylinders for COVID-19 patients. This list of hospitals was attached by the Sisodia in his letter to the Centre.

Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia writes to Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan

"Police & senior officials of administration in Uttar Pradesh & Haryana are stalling the tankers carrying oxygen, delaying the tankers to reach Delhi hospitals on time," the letter reads pic.twitter.com/xeXZ22syDg

— ANI (@ANI) April 22, 2021

Several small hospitals in the city struggled to replenish the oxygen supply for coronavirus patients on Thursday morning, even as some big healthcare facilities received fresh stock overnight. Two of the six hospitals — Saroj Super Specialty Hospital and Shanti Mukund Hospital — have been flagging their shortage since Thursday morning. Apart from these two, Tirath Ram Shah Hospital, UK Nursing Home, Rathi Hospital and Santom Hospital were also flagged for running out of oxygen. Meanwhile, just 2.5 hours of oxygen was left at the Holy Family Hospital. In his letter, Sisodia also alleged that tankers carrying oxygen were not able to reach hospitals in the National Capital as they were being stalled by police and officials in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. “Police and senior officials of the administration in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are stalling the tankers carrying oxygen, delaying the tankers from reaching Delhi hospitals on time,” Sisodia said in the letter. “I urge you ensure that the oxygen allocated for Delhi by the Centre reaches there without any delay to save lives of the patients,” he added. The Centre on Thursday directed states to ensure uninterrupted production and supply of medical oxygen and its transport along inter-state borders and said the district magistrate and superintendent of police of the district concerned will be held responsible if there is any violation of its order. The directive under the stringent Disaster Management Act 2005 was issued by Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla in the wake of reports that some states blocked supply of medical oxygen to other states amid a sudden spike in coronavirus cases and demand for it. With inputs from PTI