DELHI continues to send desperate messages for emergency oxygen supplies throughout the country.
This comes after the crisis started two weeks ago with patients resorting to home remedies to battle Covid-19 but to no avail.
At least 12 patients, including a doctor, died when a prominent hospital ran out of oxygen on Saturday.
Families of patients who can’t find a bed are struggling to get hold of portable cylinders – sometimes standing in queues for up to 12 hours.
Several big hospitals in Delhi are relying on daily oxygen supplies but they are not getting enough to keep some as backup in case of emergency.
Dr Gautam Singh, who runs the Shri Ram Singh hospital, says he has 50 Covid beds and space for 16 ICU patients, but has had to refuse admissions as there is no guarantee of oxygen supply.
Hear from the head of the hospital. This was two days ago and he got help. But more can be done. pic.twitter.com/geGzPeppxZ
— Vikas Pandey (@BBCVikas) April 28, 2021
Dr Singh says the possibility of patients dying without oxygen in the hospital stops him from sleeping.
“I should be concentrating on treating my patients, and not running around to get oxygen,” he says.
Meanwhile, India has become the first country to register more than 400,000 new cases in a single day, with over 19 million total cases and 215, 542 deaths.