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Video Editor: Prashant Chauhan
Video Inputs: Piyush Rai, Mohammad Sartaj Alam, Anthony Rozario
(This story was first published on 26 July 2021 and has been republished from The Quint's archives in light of the Uttar Pradesh government claiming that no death has been reported in the state due to lack of oxygen during the second COVID wave.)
The Union Health Ministry on 20 July, informed the Parliament that no deaths due to shortage of oxygen have been reported during the second wave of COVID-19.
In a written statement, minister of State for Health, Dr Bharti Pravin Pawar, informed in the Rajya Sabha that no state/UT reported deaths of COVID-19 patients due to lack of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in the second wave.
Even though there was an uproar in the Rajya Sabha over the statement by the centre, at least five state governments i.e Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, and Goa have echoed similar sentiments.
Responding to these claims by the centre and state governments, families of those who lost their loved ones are shocked and numb. Erick Massey’s mother, Delphin Massey, 61, was one of the 25 patients who lost their lives at Delhi’s Jaipur Golden Hospital due to oxygen shortage. Erick says the government is mercilessly mocking the victims’ families.
Meerut-based Puneet Agarwal, shares the same grief. On 10 May, he lost his father at the KMC Hospital due to COVID. He grieves that his father, S Shravan Kumar Agarwal, could have been alive if there was an adequate supply of oxygen.
Rajnish Yadav Rinku lost his life on 27 April at Shri Paras Hospital in Agra. The private hospital is being investigated for an alleged ‘mock drill of deliberate cutting the oxygen supply’ but the mystery is yet to be solved. His family also claims that he died due to oxygen shortage.
Raju Yadav, brother-in-law of Rajnish Yadav, is absolutely baffled after hearing the statement made by the center in Rajya Sabha.
Many families who lost loved ones claim that they would have been alive if there was sufficient oxygen supply. But now they want to give them dignity by getting them justice.
“In some time, the government can even say coronavirus never happened. The government is just lying,” says Puneet Agarwal. Now the real question is, if there was no oxygen shortage, why did India airlift oxygen tankers from around the world?
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