With the rise of covid cases in Goa and the huge rush at the hospitals, Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) is experiencing horrific scenes daily. Goa Medical College & Hospital, where 26 Covid patients died of oxygen shortage on Wednesday and 13 on Thursday, is overwhelmed with the number of cases. Patients were seen lying on the floor and inside storerooms.
Despite being the main hospital in Goa with the best facilities, where the Health Minister spent 200 crores just install the ventilators, patients are dying due to the shortage of oxygen. The hospital is unable to even provide beds for the covid patients who are seeing entering the hospital without any stop.
Patients can be seen lying on the floor and along the passage, and in the storeroom. Some have laid down cardboards while others are sleeping on the floor tiles as the Covid ward is packed with patients to such an extent that there is no space to walk.
A video of the Goa medical college shows patients lying inside the Covid-19 ward and no hospital staff is there to attend to patients and relatives are the ones who are helping.
Hemant Kambli, who lost his brother-in-law inside the ward said, “Please help Goa, save the people of Goa. Situation is very bad.” “First I did not get a bed. There is no staff available. We ourselves have to take patients inside the hospital. When we got the bed, it did not even have a mattress. I brought a mattress from my home,” said Kambli.
According to Kambli, There is no oxygen not available and he had paid a huge amount to buy the oxygen cylinder. There are no medicines, no staff. Everything is dependent on the patient’s relative. Nothing was learned from the first wave.
Inconsolable, Kambli further said, “Such horrible are the conditions that I lost my brother-in-law in front of my eyes and I could not do anything. I and other family members risked our lives and stayed inside the Covid ward. Now I don’t know if we are positive too.” “Something needs to be done at the earliest. There are patients inside the hospital storeroom, such is the condition,” he added.
Meanwhile, the state government on Friday appointed a three-member committee to inquire about the ongoing oxygen supplies issues at the GMCH. The committee has been asked to complete the probe within the next three days.
The Goa bench of the HC said state authorities told it some of the casualties may have taken place due to “logistical issues” related to connecting oxygen cylinders to the manifold (group of large gas cylinders) that resulted in interruption and drop in pressure in supply lines of oxygen to patients. The HC said the Centre should ensure that the allotted quota of medical oxygen is made available at the earliest to Goa, which is reporting a very high test positivity rate.
On Wednesday, the HC said the availability of medical oxygen for Covid-19 patients at the GMCH was grim and asked the state government to take corrective steps. The court asked the government to remove any deficiencies regarding the supply of oxygen to patients. “We expect the State Administration to find out ways and means to overcome these logistical issues so that precious life is not lost on account of any deficiencies in the matter of supply of oxygen to patients, the court ruled.
