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 The incident in the city of Nashik, one of India's worst-hit areas,
happened after the tank of gas leaked, said Rajesh Tope, the health
minister of Maharashtra, the richest state, where the city is
located.
"Patients who were on ventilators at the hospital in Nashik have
died," Tope said in televised remarks.
"The leakage was spotted at the tank supplying oxygen to these
patients. The interrupted supply could be linked to the deaths of
the patients in the hospital."
The world's second most populous nation reported 295,041 new
infections on Wednesday for the world's highest daily rise,
stretching its hospitals to breaking point, officials said.
Only the United States had a slightly higher one-day rise of 297,430
cases in January, though its tally has since fallen sharply. India's
2,023 deaths were also its highest in the pandemic.
On Tuesday, hospitals in Delhi, the capital, said they had enough
oxygen left for just another eight to 24 hours, while some private
institutions had enough for only four or five.
The situation was so severe that some people had tried to loot an
oxygen tanker, forcing authorities to beef up security, said the
health minister of the neighbouring state of Haryana.
"From now, I've ordered police protection for all tankers," Anil Vij
told Reuters partner ANI.
Television showed images of people with empty oxygen cylinders
crowding refilling facilities as they scrambled to save stricken
relatives in hospital.
"We were completely blocked out of supplies yesterday but by the end
of the day we received some and it is helping us today," said Charu
Sachdeva, an official at the state-run Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute
& Research Centre in the capital.
In the northern city of Lucknow, one man said a hospital had asked
him to arrange oxygen supplies for his uncle or take him away since
it had run out.
[to top of second column] |
 Delhi, a city of 20 million
people, recorded 28,395 new cases and 277 deaths
on Tuesday, its highest tally since the pandemic
began. Every third person tested for coronavirus
proved positive.
About 80 of 142 hospitals in Delhi had no beds
left for virus patients, government figures
showed.
New Delhi businessman Saurabh Mittal said he
called a hospital shown in a government database
to have beds free, only to be told they were
full up and could not take anyone.
"I told them there is online availability but
they said the real-time data showed no beds,"
said Mittal, who had been trying to arrange
treatment for a virus sufferer.
India faces a coronavirus "storm" overwhelming
its health system, Prime Minister Narendra Modi
said in a national address overnight, adding
that authorities were working with states and
private firms to deliver oxygen with "speed and
sensitivity".
Delhi, like large parts of India, let its guard
down when the virus seemed to be under control,
allowing big gatherings such as weddings and
festivals as daily infections fell to fewer than
1,000 during the winter, health experts said.
(Global vaccination tracker:
https://graphics.reuters.com/world-coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/vaccination-rollout-and-access)
(Additional reporting by Neha Arora and Aditya
Kalra in New Delhi, Sachin Ravikumar in
Bengaluru; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and
Clarence Fernandez)
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