At around 3.30 pm on Wednesday, Dr John Punnooses, associate medical director at St Stephens Hospital, Tis Hazari, Delhi, told Newslaundry they only had enough oxygen to last until 8 in the evening.
“Our supplier of oxygen is Linde and the plant is in Faridabad,” he said. “Authorities of the Linde organization informed us that the plant has been sealed by the Haryana government and they will not be able to supply us oxygen. The oxygen supply at the hospital will run out by 8 pm. We have 300 Covid patients who are admitted and are receiving oxygen.”
SOS FOR OXYGEN SUPPLY at DELHI’s ST STEPHEN’S HOSP
— Ankit Tyagi (@Ankit_Tyagi01) April 21, 2021
- SUPPLY FOR ONLY 2 HOURS LEFT
- 300 Covid patients on oxygen support
- Hospital desperately trying to arrange oxygen
Dr John Punnose, Associate Director, St Hospital to India Today.
Soon, NDTV quoted Holy Family Hospital and Sir Irene Hospital administrators claiming that the Haryana government had also blocked tankers bringing oxygen to them.
Newslaundry contacted Garima Mittal, collector of Faridabad, where the Linde plant is located. Has the oxygen plant been sealed, we asked her?
“Absolutely not,” she replied. “I do not know where this news is coming from. Everything is fine. I don't know about the specific case of the hospital but there is no issue here. All the tankers are leaving the state, there’s no issue at all. Nobody has been stopped. There is absolutely smooth movement as has been going on. Oxygen supply will be as usual.”
Atleast 3 Delhi hospitals now complaining of Oxygen supply stuck at Delhi borders
— Sonal MehrotraKapoor (@Sonal_MK) April 21, 2021
Their supplier alleges Haryana Govt has prohibited them supplying it outside the state@ArvindKejriwal @msisodia @SatyendarJain
St Stephen's Hospital in Delhi has 300 serious patients & Oxygen which will only last for 2 more hours. Acc to Docs, Haryana govt not letting their vendor supply oxygen to Delhi. If oxygen doesn't reach Stephen's, big tragedy will happen.
— Tanushree Pandey (@TanushreePande) April 21, 2021
We also contacted Surender Singh, business head at Linde India, to ask if they were still supplying oxygen to Delhi’s hospitals. “Sorry we are working hard to save peoples lives,” he replied before this reporter could complete the question, “I cannot talk right now.” He cut the call.
We then emailed and texted our questions to Singh and Linde India Ltd. The report will be updated if we receive a response.
In the meantime, it was reported that oxygen was on the way and would reach the hospital by 6 pm. We spoke with Dr John again. He said he didn’t know what had changed at the factory since he had last spoken with them but, yes, fresh supply was enroute.
Good news : Oxygen tanker to reach St Stephan's Hospital soon. Vendor has confirmed that It will be reach till 6 PM.
— Hemant Rajaura (@hemantrajora_) April 21, 2021
Dr. John Punnoose , Associate Medical Director , St Stephan's Hospital.#COVID19India
Just as the St Stephens situation seemed to have been resolved, however, Lind India emerged at the centre of another scramble for oxygen.
SOS FROM MANIPAL HOSPITAL, DELHI: ‘We hv 230+ Covid patients. Our Medical Oxygen Supplier Linde is willing to supply from it's Faridabad unit however Haryana Govt officials have taken over the plant & are not allowing supplies to be sent to us. We have only 12 hrs of Oxygen left’
— Ankit Tyagi (@Ankit_Tyagi01) April 21, 2021
At around 6 pm, PTI quoted Delhi's deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia as saying that the supply of oxygen had been restored.
Haryana govt official stopped oxygen supply from Faridabad plant; supply restored now: Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 21, 2021
The shortage of medical oxygen has heightened panic in the capital over the last 24 hours. On Tuesday, Sisodia said nearly all major private and government hospitals were going to run out of oxygen in the next 8-12 hours. In the evening, chief minister Arvind Kejriwal appealed to the Narendra Modi government for help, saying oxygen was running alarmingly low. Finally, at night, the hospitals were supplied and the crisis was averted, at least in the immediate term.
Panic persists, however, not least because governments, at the centre and in states, haven’t been clear about the situation. It’s no secret that there isn’t nearly enough oxygen supply to keep up with the demand, not least because the central government failed to ramp up production over the last year. So, hospitals, patients and even state governments are left to scramble for oxygen, as the experience of St Stephens Hospital illustrates.
This is a developing story. We’ll update it as and when more information becomes available.
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