PANAJI
Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday urged the High Court of Bombay at Goa to appoint an expert committee to inquire into the management and supply of oxygen at Goa Medical College and Hospital.
He remained away from media glare and he neither accompanied Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on his visit to Covid wards at GMC nor attended the meeting convened by the CM to discuss oxygen mismanagement.
The health minister spoke to media persons at his office and stated, “We feel that interrupted oxygen supply between 2 am and 6 am causes many deaths. The HC should inquire into oxygen supply and deaths taking place between 2 am and 6 am. Today, 26 patients passed away between 2 am and 6 am. The government has appointed three nodal officers and it needs to be checked what analysis they have done.”
He informed that the requirement of jumbo cylinders is around 1,200 a day but GMC receives only 400 and added that the shortfall cannot be filled up.
On May 8, there were as many as 456 Covid patients on oxygen at GMC and a total of 912 cylinders were needed to cater to them. But GMC only had 370 oxygen cylinders. By May 10, the number of such patients dropped to 369 and the requirement fell to 738. But only 451 oxygen cylinders were available.
The Health Minister said that he will ask the CM to pinpoint the source of this mismanagement and reiterated that the GMC is overburdened at present.
