There’s a sense of panic in the air. The atmosphere is layered with tense vibes. Everywhere you see, whatever you read, there’s some negative and disenchanting update regarding the constant loss of lives due to the vicious Coronavirus pandemic. Just one kind of news on mainstream media: the loss of lives due to the pandemic. The virus is spreading, the infections are reaching more people than ever. The number of hospital beds are running out but the patients aren’t. It is as though, the COVID 19 situation is putting on a grimmer mask by the tick of the clock. And where it comes to the national capital of India, New Delhi, it can be said, the city has seen better days in the past. The CM Kejriwal has never been on such a tight footing before as where he currently finds himself.
Something somewhere must happen and urgently so. And recently, there was a ray of hope as CM Kejriwal had a meeting with none other than the Prime Minister of the country Shri Narendra Modi. The context and content of the meeting was purely focused on saving lives in Delhi and to find ways to counter the ghastly turn of numbers all thanks to the never-ending pandemic.
But up first, here’s a reality check as to what’s currently happening in the country’s capital:
There’s a grave situation where it comes to saving lives in Delhi
Most hospitals, and these are top hospitals mind you, are reporting a grim shortage of oxygen
The above is precisely why CM Kejriwal raised the issue with the country’s Prime Minister.
But make no mistake; there were chief ministers of as many as ten states in the meeting to which Mr. Kejriwal and Shri Modi were a part. The said meeting was held shortly after India witnessed perhaps the most deplorable of its recent days: with the country witnessing no fewer than 3 lakh COVID cases.
Wherever one looks, there seems to be an endless sea of problems. Starting first with the ease of admission in any vital hospital. What follows after is an acute shortage of oxygen. The trouble, however, doesn’t end there; it appears the whole matter relates to the presence of an oxygen producing plant, the very matter that caught the nerve of an embattled CM.
So the question is, what did CM Kejriwal say on the matter?
Here’s what the Hindustan Times reported:
“There is a huge shortage of oxygen in Delhi. Will people of Delhi not get oxygen if there is no oxygen-producing plant here.”
Raising the issue of problems faced during transportation of oxygen tankers, Kejriwal said, “Please suggest whom should I speak to in Central Govt when an oxygen tanker destined for Delhi is stopped in another state.”
Delhi on Thursday reported more than 26,000 new cases and 306 deaths, or about one fatality every five minutes, the fastest since the pandemic began.
Meanwhile, the top cops in the city too got involved in the act with the DCP South affirming that an oxygen carrying vehicle had already reached the Saket-bound Max Hospital after the premier medical facility sent an SOS to the government.
Furthermore, another oxygen-carrying vehicle has reached the Max Smart hospital, as informed by the said cop.
But the key question is- is this a stop-gap or random arrangement or can one expect to see a constant flow of oxygen across hospitals where its critically needed?
The big crisis, if you take cognisance of the situation, is that the top hospitals in the national capital are running out of time to make arrangement for their oxygen quota.
The question now is- when and how soon can this situation be addressed in order to avoid things taking a turn for the worse?