India - Karnataka: Media report that many hospitals continue to ask their admitted patients to shift to other facilities as they are running out of oxygen - April 21, 2021

[sharon sanders]

KARNATAKA

Oxygen shortage: Hospitals ask families to shift patients


BENGALURU, APRIL 21, 2021 02:31 IST
UPDATED: APRIL 21, 2021 02:31 IST


This continues to be a huge problem despite the State government claiming that oxygen is not in short supply


Although the State government has been claiming that there is no shortage of liquid medical oxygen, many hospitals continued to ask their admitted patients to shift to other facilities as they are running out of stock. Government helplines 108 and 1912 were flooded with calls seeking help.

Since Tuesday morning, the Emergency Response Team (ERT), a volunteer group, has been getting many calls from desperate families. ERT volunteers said they have got several calls from families of patients admitted in as many eight hospitals in various parts of the city on Tuesday, requesting help in finding oxygenated beds.

At Athreya Hospital in Chandapura, families of five critical patients had been informed on Tuesday morning that oxygen stock would not last more than half an hour. ?Following our desperate pleas, the Bengaluru Urban District Health Officer (DHO) G.A. Srinivas visited our hospital and made some temporary arrangements to last for a day. On his assurance, we have sent a truck with 20 jumbo cylinders for refilling from the Peenya Refilling plant. However, we lost one of the five patients,? said Narayan Swamy, hospital medical director.

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https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/oxygen-shortage-hospitals-ask-families-to-shift-patients/article34371563.ece

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Emily]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2021/apr/21/india-officials-scramble-to-stop-oxygen-tank-leak-that-left-22-covid-19-patients-dead-video

India: officials scramble to stop oxygen tank leak that left 22 Covid-19 patients dead ? video

[sharon sanders]

bump this

[Okieman]

India?s Massive COVID Surge Puzzles Scientists


The virus is spreading faster than ever before in the country despite previous high infection rates in megacities, which should have conferred some protection

• By Smriti Mallapaty, Nature magazine on April 21, 2021

The pandemic is sweeping through India at a pace that has staggered scientists. Daily case numbers have exploded since early March: the government reported 273,810 new infections nationally on 18 April. High numbers in India have also helped drive global cases to a daily high of 854,855 in the past week, almost breaking a record set in January.

Just months earlier, antibody data had suggested that many people in cities such as Delhi and Chennai had already been infected, leading some researchers to conclude that the worst of the pandemic was over in the country.

Researchers in India are now trying to pinpoint what is behind the unprecedented surge, which could be due to an unfortunate confluence of factors, including the emergence of particularly infectious variants, a rise in unrestricted social interactions, and low vaccine coverage. Untangling the causes could be helpful to governments trying to suppress or prevent similar surges around the world.

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https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/indias-massive-covid-surge-puzzles-scientists/

[sharon sanders]

I am not sure what is going on in this media report. Negative PCR COVID-19 tests but have the symptoms?

snip

The phenomena of deaths occurring among a sizeable number of persons due to lung failure? despite RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests showing negative results for the Covid-19 infection? during the surging second wave in Karnataka, has raised concerns among a section of doctors who suspect these cases to linked to new variants of the virus even as scientists reject the theory.

https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-staring-at-new-variant-of-covid-19-fear-medics-but-scientists-rubbish-the-claim-7303051/