On April 19, 2021, my mother tested positive for the dreaded coronavirus. Initially, she was in isolation at home, and I was there with her, regularly monitoring her oxygen level. In the beginning, she was fine, but still, we thought that it would be better if we admit her to a hospital so that she is under constant supervision So, we admitted her to Mission Hospital in Delhi. Eventually, we realized that she was not getting enough care over there. After that, we moved her to Batra Hospital on April 25.  At that time, Delhi was reeling under a disastrous second wave. Everyone we knew had someone suffering from the virus. However, we were positive because our mother was well on her path to recovery.

20 Patients Died Due to Hypoxia

In Batra Hospital, the doctors moved her to the ICU because her oxygen levels were suddenly fluctuating. On April 30, they had informed me that the hospital was facing a shortage of oxygen. However, the severity of the situation was not out in the open. Some patients who were affected by the Delta variant of the coronavirus were in the ICU. They required a high flow of oxygen and could not rely solely on the cylinders. At that point, the hospital needed to have a centralized system of oxygen for severe patients. On May 1, there was a news flash that said that Batra hospital had run out of oxygen, and 20 patients had died in the ICU because of hypoxia. Among those 20 was a name that brought my world down; it was my mother’s.

My brother and I spoke to a doctor after this, and he told us that reason for death was a direct result of oxygen cut-off. It is the direct responsibility of the state and the Central government to provide a hospital with oxygen and drugs. The government failed its people, and we lost our still young at heart mother at 64. The wounds have still not healed, and the central government’s recent remark about not even a single death being recorded because of lack of oxygen is baseless and insensitive. As someone who lost their loved one to COVID, we are enraged because the government is just brushing its hand off its responsibilities.

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