With no oxygen supply, two COVID-19 patients in TN were left to die!

In a shocking development, two COVID-19 patients in Tamil Nadu had passed away after they faced disruption in the supply of oxygen amid the absence of electricity in the government hospital. The development ran into controversy with the opposition claiming as the brutal deaths while the hospital had denied the allegations and said that it had initiated the backup plan after there was a power cut. 

According to reports, a 67-year-old woman and a 59-year-old man were getting treated for the COVID-19 viral infection at the Tirupur Government Hospital in the state. The family members of both the deceased had alleged that they had died on Tuesday after there was the disruption of the oxygen supply in the wake of the power cut, leaving them to witness the oxygen level of the patients getting declined. 

The relatives of the deceased said that there was a construction work going on in the area which had damaged the electricity cables connected to the hospital following which there was a power cut in the hospital from 10.30 am to 1.30 pm on Tuesday. The three hours of power cut had caused disruption in the supply of oxygen for the patients, who were on the support of the ventilator. 

The reports say the demise woman, Yashodha, has got admitted on September 21 after she developed breathing problems whereas 59-year-old Gouravan was admitted on September 19. They were on the ventilator support and following the electricity cut, the oxygen supply was disrupted and the oxygen levels began to decline and they had breathed their last before the hospital authorities brought the oxygen cylinders as the replacement. 

After the incident came to light, the hospital and district administration had denied the allegations from the family members and claimed that the backup generator had immediately begun to function after the power supply was disrupted. The reports stated that the COVID-19 ward of the hospital had a total of 20 patients on the ventilator. However, these two patients were spelled at a critical state as they were categorized as severely sick by the hospital. 

Amid such reports, Tirupur district collector K Vijayakarthikeyan said that the power cut had lasted for only forty minutes and all other patients at the ward were doing fine. He inspected the site and the probe into the deaths has now been initiated by the district administration.  

Following the development, DMK President MK Stalin had castigated the incident and said that these were brutal deaths of people who trusted the government. The opposition leader further pressed that the deaths had exposed the negligence of the ruling ADMK government. 

 

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