05 May,2021 06:25 AM IST | New Delhi | Agencies
Kin wait to refill their oxygen cylinders for COVID patients in home quarantine, in Delhi on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the Centre to show cause as to why contempt not be initiated against it for failing to comply with order on supply of oxygen to Delhi for treating Covid-19 patients. "You can put your head in sand like an ostrich, we will not" the high court said. "Are you living in ivory towers?"
A bench of Justices Vipin Sanghi and Rekha Palli also rejected the Centre's submission that Delhi was not entitled to 700 metric tonnes (MT) of medical oxygen in light of existing medical infrastructure.
A man prays as the pyre of his kin burns in Delhi on Tuesday. Pic/AFP
"We see grim reality everyday of people not able to secure oxygen or ICU beds in hospitals" which have reduced beds due to gas shortage, it said. "Supreme Court's April 30 order shows it directed Centre to provide 700 MT of oxygen and not just 490 MT," HC said. "Please don't tell us that it's a SC order so you'll show a report to them," Live Law quoted the bench as saying.
AAP MLA Raghav Chadha on Tuesday said 41 hospitals with 7,142 people on oxygen support sent SOS calls to the Delhi government on May 3. He said the city got 433 MT of oxygen, just 44 per cent of the total requirement, on Monday.
Situation is grim in Karnataka as well, with hospitals in Bengaluru and other areas are openly raising concern over the gap in oxygen supply. According to sources, some hospital managements in Kalaburagi and Belagavi are reportedly asking patients to bring oxygen cylinders with them. However, Kalaburagi district in-charge minister Murugesh Nirani ruled out any shortage.
India recorded 3,57,229 new cases and 3,449 new fatalities, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Tuesday morning. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the only way to stop the spread of coronavirus now was a full lockdown with the protection of minimum income guarantee scheme, NYAY, for the vulnerable sections.
A new variant of SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19, has emerged in parts of Andhra Pradesh and is suspected to be 15 times more infectious than the previous ones, reported The Hindu. The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) has discovered the new variant - N440K, which is being referred to as AP strain. "We have observed that the new variant has shorter incubation period and the progress of the disease is much rapid. In the earlier cases, a Covid-19 patient would take at least a week to reach the hypoxia or dyspnea stage. But in the present context, patients are reaching the serious condition stage within three or four days. And that is why there is heavy pressure on beds with oxygen or ICU beds," The Hindu quoted District Covid-19 Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College P V Sudhakar as saying. According to a report in the New Indian Express report, N440K variant was found in 20-30 per cent of samples collected from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Telangana. "In the next few weeks it is likely to fade away," the NIE quoted CCMB Advisor Rakesh Mishra as saying.
Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu on Tuesday said the virus has started to spread to the rural areas because of which the positivity rate and the number of deaths are increasing in the state. In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the state government's "lie" that there is no Covid-19 spread in villages is proving to be "very deadly". He claimed that there is a scarcity of fever medicines in villages, let alone oxygen and hospital beds.
A PIL in the Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought direction for the Centre to halt construction activity at the Central Vista Avenue Redevelopment Project during the prevailing pandemic. The PIL was opposed by the Centre, but the HC said it wants to first go through what the SC has deliberated in its order permitting the project.
With this observation, the court adjourned the matter and posted the next hearing on May 17.
2,02,82,833
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far
2,22,408
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far
1,66,13,292
Total no. of patients Recovered and discharged in India so far
15,89,32,921
(Total no. of people vaccinated so far)
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