Andhra Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, on Tuesday, announced Rs 10 lakh in financial assistance to the families of the 11 COVID-19 patients who died due to an interruption in oxygen supply at Tirupati's Ruia Government Hospital.
The incident took place on the night of May 10 in Tirupati. According to the Chittoor district authorities, a five-minute lag in the reloading of the oxygen cylinders caused the pressure in the oxygen supply to drop, resulting in the deaths. As per the reports, doctors' attempts in performing CPR procedures to revive the oxygen-starved patients were in vain.
“The incident occurred due to pressure issues in oxygen supply. Some of the COVID-19 patients who were on ventilator support passed away due to the drop in pressure for about five minutes. Within five minutes, the delayed tanker arrived and the issue was addressed," said Chittoor District Collector Hari Narayanan.
A detailed report pertaining to the incident was said to have been submitted to the Chief Minister's Office.
Chief Minister Jagan held a conference with all the district collectors on Tuesday, he directed the Chittoor district collector to ensure that the families receive the Rs 10 lakh financial aid and also asked the collector to reach out to the families personally and provide them with whatever support is needed. He urged all the collectors to be more vigilant to avoid such incidents. He also said, "How much ever hard work we do and try, we are in a situation where we have to take responsibility for some aspects which are not in our hands. A delay in the oxygen coming from Tamil Nadu led to scarcity in the oxygen supply, which led to 11 deaths. These are the difficult times."
The Chief Minister further said that the government is airlifting empty oxygen tankers to Odisha, and getting them filled there, to reduce the travel time and oxygen is also being brought on ships from foreign countries. He said, "These are testing times, despite consolidated and collective efforts there are certain damages and losses taking place due to some aspects which are not in our control." He further asked the district collectors to not be disheartened by what has happened. He requested them to be more vigilant, more humane, and to address the issues in a sympathetic manner