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Bambolim, Goa – In the early morning of May 12, Yunus Khan’s family reluctantly watched the 30-year-old coronavirus patient at the Goa Medical College and Hospital run by the government of the coastal state-run town of Bambolim (GMCH) The ventilator stopped breathing while on.
According to his 21-year-old brother Abdul Khan, Yunus has been improving.
He told Al Jazeera: “When we panicked and told the doctor, he told us to make a video and send it to the Chief Minister.” “His lung ruptured, so a ventilator is the only way to stabilize his condition.”
A taxi driver of Yunus came from Ponda, South Goa District, South Goa. He was diagnosed with COVID-induced pneumonia on May 10 and was sent to GMCH. He died in the ICU ward of the hospital on May 15.
“My brother had no comorbidities. He died because there was no oxygen in the hospital.” Khan said.
Oxygen shortage killed dozens of people
Between May 11 and May 16, the oxygen levels in the largest hospital in Goa dropped, resulting in the death of 75 COVID-19 patients.
An unnamed doctor working at GMCH told Al Jazeera that the pipeline carrying oxygen from the main fuel tank was corroded, causing a leak.
He added: “There is also a delay in carrying oxygen cylinders from outside.”
Experts believe that the large number of deaths is the culmination of months of inaction by the state government to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the state.
Antonio Clovis, president of the South Goa Advocates Association, said Goa has become a safe haven for those fleeing strict blockades in the capital Delhi and Mumbai.
“From December to January, a gathering was held in Goa, with 5,000 people attending. Even at the peak of the second wave, Goa did not require citizens entering the state to compulsorily provide a COVID negative certificate.” Clovis said .
The impact on tourism is the reason for the state’s leniency policy, and tourism is the state’s largest source of income.
On May 7, Goa, India’s smallest state, had the highest positive rate of coronavirus, reaching 51%.
Even before the state government imposed a curfew and lockdown on May 9, the state had the highest number of COVID cases per million people in the country.
Pratik Sawant, president of the Indian Goa Resident Doctors Association (GARD), told Al Jazeera that in April, the hospital was full of patients.
“Since the GMCH can accommodate 700 beds, we have 950 patients. Some deaths are indeed caused by insufficient oxygen, but this is a combination of lack of personnel, lack of medical equipment and insufficient supply of medicines.”
“This hospital made us orphans”
On May 8, 39-year-old Cracy Fernandes (Cracy Fernandes) showed COVID-like symptoms and sent her parents to GMCH. Four days after being called “total negligence” by doctors and nurses, her parents both passed away on May 12.
“When we brought them in, they were forced to share an oxygen cylinder. When we checked, the cylinder was empty.” Crici told Al Jazeera.
She said that once, the doctor asked her to put on an oxygen mask on her father (a 67-year-old diabetic).
“They will ask us to clear the IV drip. Without training, how do we do such a thing? In order to find a nurse, we had to run for 20 minutes.” She said.
A few hours after the death of his mother (60 years old without comorbidities), his father’s condition deteriorated. However, there are no empty ICU beds in the hospital.
“The nurse gave him an injection and I noticed that his body became cold. When I reminded the nurse, they brought an ECG machine, but it didn’t work,” she said.
“My parents are in critical condition. They need to be placed on the breathing machine. But here, they are fixed to empty oxygen cylinders.”
“Father died after a few hours from my mother. This hospital made us orphans.” Crisy told Al Jazeera.
The court stepped in to save lives
In the video shared by the relatives of patients, the hospital in Goa can be seen in a terrible condition, showing crowded wards, patients lying on the floor, and medical waste piled up nearby.
On April 28, a relative of a patient violently treated doctors and nurses on GMCH and broke the ventilator. The escalating situation forced GARD to issue a letter on May 1 threatening to withdraw the services of 300 doctors performing COVID responsibilities across the state.
Savant said the doctors have been working in shifts for 14 hours due to lack of adequate staff.
“The authorities issued a statement to the media that there was no problem with beds or oxygen. But when the oxygen flowed through and the patient died, we had to face the anger of angry relatives who asked to know why they died if there was no shortage,” he said.
The GARD letter prompted the South Goa Advocates Association to file a lawsuit in the High Court on May 4, requesting its intervention. Clovis said the hearing revealed the government’s request.
“It’s terrible, and the court doesn’t want to step in to pursue accountability. The only point is to save lives.” Clovis told Al Jazeera.
He added that when the judge asked follow-up questions, the authorities contradicted themselves. He said: “It is shocking that the court had to beg the authorities to save lives.”
According to the Supreme Court’s order, the High Court condemned the state government for evading life-saving responsibility by “defending helplessness and citing logistical difficulties.”
In the face of criticism and in accordance with the court’s order, the state government assigned personnel on May 15 to monitor the oxygen level of the GMCH centralized unit. A cryogenic oxygen tank with a capacity of 20,000 liters was also installed, which has not yet been commissioned.
The Minister of Health in Goa, Ravi Dhawan, told Al Jazeera that there is no shortage of oxygen supplies in hospitals across the state. When asked about the cause of the death of GMCH patients due to hypoxia, he declined to comment.
Dr. Joseph Brito, a former senior lecturer at St. Mary’s Hospital in London, currently living in Goa, said that the next flu virus wave will not have enough oxygen, hospital beds, ventilators and clinical staff.
He told Al Jazeera: “The only way to contain this pandemic and prevent the next pandemic is to conduct large-scale rapid vaccination across the country, followed by highly vigilant epidemiological surveillance and viral gene sequencing.”
“We must stop wiping the floor and turn off the tap.”
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