Unable to get ventilator, doctor dies at hospital he served for 50 years

Lucknow: A sharp increase in the number of critical Covid-19 cases has pushed the demand for ventilators to an all-time high in Uttar Pradesh. Finding a bed with a ventilator has become a battle for every critical patient and their kin, even if the patient is a doctor at the hospital.

For around 50 years, 85-year-old senior doctor JK Mishra served at Swarup Rani Nehru (SRN) Hospital in Prayagraj. But when he needed a ventilator due to Covid-related complications, he could not find one and died right in front of his wife at the same hospital he worked at for decades.

Dr JK Mishra developed symptoms of Covid-19 like shortness of breath and oxygen deprivation on April 13. Three days later, he was admitted to the SRN hospital. But soon after he was admitted, his condition deteriorated. The doctors advised that he should be shifted to a ventilator facility, but no beds were available in any critical care facility in the city.

As per the emergency medical officer of the SRN hospital, Suryabhan Kushwaha, the hospital has around 100 ventilators but all were occupied by the patients admitted before Dr Mishra.

"It was not possible to remove any other patient from the ventilator to arrange one for Dr Mishra," he said.

Meanwhile, BJP MP Ravi Kishan has written a letter to Gorakhpur District Magistrate Vijyendra Pandiyan, asking him to identify a location for setting up an oxygen plant in Gorakhpur.

The MP said that he would contribute Rs 40 lakh for the purpose.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Monday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of fudging coronavirus death number, saying the data shown by it is contradicted by the rush at crematoriums.

The former UP chief minister further alleged that the BJP government's mismanagement and short-sightedness has turned the state into a "corona pradesh". "Fake data is being given to show fewer deaths while a rush is being witnessed at crematoriums," Yadav said in a statement. "It is the government's failure that even BJP MPs and MLAs are not satisfied with the current state of affairs. The number of doctors, hospitals and other facilities given by the BJP is mostly fake. Such an insensitive government was never seen in the state," he said. "The BJP should shun its pride of being in power. They should think like family members of Covid patients and ensure availability of oxygen at their homes," Akhilesh said, accusing the party of not paying any heed to experts' warning about the second wave of the infection.

The Minority Affairs Ministry has decided to give Haj Houses to the respective State government for utilisation as temporary care centres for Covid-19 patients.

"It has been decided to give Haj Houses in different states of the country to the state governments to utilise them as temporary "Corona Care Centre"," Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Monday.