The Allahabad High Court (HC) on the 4th of May, reviewed the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19 situation and made a stern remark over the deaths due to low oxygen.
In the hearing, the Allahabad HC said, “We are at pain in observing that death of COVID patients just for non-supplying of oxygen to the hospitals is a criminal act and not less than a genocide by those who have been entrusted the task to ensure continuous procurement and supply chain of the liquid medical oxygen.”
The Court also said, “How can we let our people die in this way when science is so advanced that even heart transplantation and brain surgery are taking place these days.” The review was based on the social media and news items concerned about the deaths of COVID-19 patients due to low oxygen. The Court heard the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) and took cognisance of the recent incident where five COVID-19 patients died due to low oxygen supply.
According to sources, recently, five patients had died in the ICU of a new trauma centre of Medical College, Meerut. The reason was low oxygen. Similarly, Sun Hospital, Gomti Nagar, Lucknow and another private hospital in Meerut turned down COVID-19 patients only for the reason that oxygen supply was not made even after demand.
The court proceedings were conducted by a two judges bench comprising of Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar. After the hearing, they asked the concerned management to submit a detailed report of the COVID-19 situation and conditions of quarantine centres.
The Court in its order said, “Normally, we would have not directed the state and district administration to enquire into such news that have been viralled on social media, but since the advocates who were appearing in this PIL supported such news and even submitted that more or less situations in other districts of state are the same, we find it necessary to direct for immediate remedial measures to be taken by the Government.”
In addition, the Court directed the district magistrates (DMs) of Lucknow and Meerut to inquire into such news items within 48 hours and submit their reports on the next date. They are also directed to appear before the High Court virtually on the next date of hearing, the 7th of May.
Due to the low supply of oxygen and shortage of proper medication to the COVID-19 patients, people are dying. This has not only raised alarm over the mismanagement of health infrastructure but also questioned the preparedness of the Central Government for the second wave of COVID-19
Similar to Allahabad HC, the Delhi High Court also issued a notice to the Central Government over the low supply of oxygen. In addition, the Supreme Court also asked the Government of India (GoI) to submit a national plan for oxygen supply and drugs supply for COVID-19 patients.
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