Oxygen Shortage: Delhi’s Madhukar Rainbow Children Hospital Raises Alarm, AAP’s Raghav Chadha Steps In

Several hospitals in Delhi continue to grapple with a shortage of oxygen, as coronavirus cases continue to spike every passing day.

New Delhi: Delhi’s Madhukar Rainbow Children Hospital on Sunday sounded an alarm about their dwindling stocks of oxygen, saying 50 people, including four newborns, are “at risk”. An official of the in Malviya Nagar hospital said there are around 80 patients, including those suffering from Covid-19, at the hospital. It also has 15 newborns, he said. “There are 50 people, including four newborns, on oxygen support,” he said.

The hospital does not have a liquid oxygen storage tank and depends on oxygen cylinders from a private vendor. “It has become a daily fire-fight exercise in the absence of a continuous supply. We require around 125 oxygen cylinders a day,” the official said. “We request consistent supply of Liquid Oxygen at Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi,” a tweet by the hospital this morning read. In another post, shared at around 10:20 AM, the hospital said: “We have Liquid Oxygen Supply till 12 Noon today.”

We have Liquid Oxygen Supply till 12 Noon today at Madhukar Rainbow Children Hospital, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi. #SOS #Childrenhospital #DelhiCovid #DelhiHighCourt @ArvindKejriwal @drharshvardhan @IMAIndiaOrg @UNICEFIndia https://t.co/EYZpC9oxn9

— Rainbow Children's Hospitals (@RCH_India) May 2, 2021

Luckily, about an hour after the Madhukar Rainbow Children’s Hospital in south Delhi’s Malviya Nagar sent out an SOS, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party’s Raghav Chadha said five oxygen cylinders have been arranged for the hospital, reported NDTV. “We have organised five big, deep-dive oxygen cylinders from our facility in Rajghat. It should reach them soon. We are in touch with the children’s hospital regularly and have been servicing their requests for the last 5-6 days,” Raghav Chadha said while speaking to NDTV.

We have arranged five D Type oxygen cylinders for Rainbow Children's Hospital, from our Rajghat Response Point. The Govt's oxygen reserves are extremely limited due to reduced oxygen supply to Delhi, but we are doing everything possible to avert any untoward incident. https://t.co/lxlnd2o697

— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) May 2, 2021

On Saturday, 12 Covid-19 patients, including a senior doctor, had died at south Delhi’s Batra Hospital after the facility ran out of medical oxygen for around 80 minutes in the afternoon. Several hospitals in Delhi continue to grapple with a shortage of oxygen, as coronavirus cases continue to spike every passing day.

(With inputs from PTI)