Chittoor: In yet another incident of lack of oxygen, 11 Covid-19 patients breathed their last Monday night at the state-run Sri Venkateswara Ramnarain Ruia Hospital (SVRR) in Chittoor district, officials said. They informed that the hospital had ran out of oxygen supply which led to the deaths.
Chittoor District Collector M Harinarayanan informed Tuesday morning that there was disruption in supply of oxygen for about 5-10 minutes. This happened as the oxygen tanker from Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu to SVRR hospital was late in arriving. By the time the oxygen tanker arrived it was too late to help those who were suffering from acute breathing problems.
“Soon after the arrival of the tanker at the hospital, the oxygen supply was restored. However, by that time, 11 persons undergoing treatment for Covid-19 died of asphyxiation. We could prevent further loss of lives due to timely restoration of oxygen supply,” the collector said.
More than 1,000 patients are undergoing treatment at the hospital. Most of them have been infected by Covid-19. The disruption in supply of oxygen supply led to loss of severe respiratory distress for several patients and they could not survive. The doctors could save the lives of some patients by cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and also by pressing oxygen compressors into service.