Covid-19: Within 4 hours, 26 lost lives at Goa government hospital

CM says gap between ‘availability of oxygen and its supply to Covid-19 wards’ might have caused the deaths; health minister says HC must probe

Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday said 26 Covid-19 patients died at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in the early hours and sought an investigation by the High Court to find out the exact cause. He said these deaths occurred between 2 am and 6 am “which is a fact”, but remained evasive about the cause.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who visited GMCH, said the gap between the “availability of medical oxygen and its supply to Covid-19 wards in the GMCH might have caused some issues for the patients” even as he stressed that there is no scarcity of oxygen supply in the state.

Speaking to reporters, Rane admitted the shortfall in the supply of oxygen at the GMCH as of Monday. “The high court should investigate the reasons behind these deaths. The HC should also intervene and prepare a white paper on oxygen supply to the GMCH, which would help to set the things right,” Rane said. He said the medical oxygen requirement of the facility as of Monday was 1,200 jumbo cylinders of which only 400 were supplied. “If there’s a shortfall in the supply of medical oxygen, the discussion should be held about how to bridge that gap.”

The CM said, “Doctors, who are busy treating patients, cannot spend their time in arranging logistics like oxygen. I will hold a meeting immediately to set up ward-wise mechanisms to ensure that oxygen is supplied to patients in time.”

Doctors warn against cow dung, plasma use

Some clinicians and scientists have written to Principal Scientific Adviser K VijayRaghavan, cautioning against the “irrational and non-scientific use” of convalescent plasma for Covid-19. They said the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines are not based on the existing evidence. They pointed out some very early evidence that indicates a possible association between emergence of variants with “lower susceptibility to neutralising antibodies in immunosuppressed” people given plasma therapy. Doctors have also warned against the use of cow dung against Covid-19, according to a Reuters report. In Gujarat, people are applying cow dung and urine on body to boost immunity or as a Covid-19 cure.  “There is no concrete scientific evidence... There are also health risks involved in smearing or consuming these products — other diseases can spread from the animal to humans,” said Dr J A Jayalal, national president at the Indian Medical Association.

2,29,92,517
Total no. of coronavirus cases in India so far

2,49,992
Total no. of deaths due to the virus in India so far

1,90,27,304
Total no. of patients Recovered and discharged in India so far

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