Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh
Ashish Mishra, a resident of Kannauj city, was admitted to the Government Medical College in Tirwa earlier this week after testing positive for COVID-19. He died within an hour. Forty five-year-old Mishra had called his relative Anup Dubey to inform he had not been given oxygen, and there was no one — doctor or a ward assistant — to attend to him.
“After admitting Ashish, I went home to pick up clothes when I received his call. When I reached the hospital, he was already dead. The doctor told me Ashish had died a while ago and that his body was in the mortuary,” Dubey told Gaon Connection.
Thirty-seven-year-old Prakhar Agnihotri died in the COVID ward of Government Medical College Tirwa on April 21. Four people died in the same ward on April 20 due to lack of oxygen. His mother, 50-year-old college principal Shashiprabha Agnihotri said her son had trouble breathing, and later died. “We have complained to CM Yogi Adityanath about it,” she said.
Even after Kannauj chief medical officer Krishna Swarup ruled out oxygen shortage in the district, COVID-19 patients continue to die due to lack of oxygen. This, despite the fact that only critical patients (which is about five per cent of infections) head to government hospitals in Kannauj. The local health department has already been demanding oxygen to help its patients.
As per the health department report, 240 new cases were reported in Kannauj as of May 3. Currently, there are 2,239 active cases in the district. So far, 85 people have died of COVID-19 in Kannauj. Most of those who test positive are isolating at home and taking medicine prescribed by doctors. As of May 4, in the last 24 hours, the state reported 29,052 new cases and 285 deaths.
Kannauj MP (member of Parliament) Subrata Pathak insisted the local public health system is in order. He said he visited the government medical college twice in a week and said there was oxygen availability.
However, visuals going viral on social media bear testimony to the poor hygiene levels in the hospital at Tirwa. They show dirt everywhere, from the beds to the bathrooms. There is no bed linen. In one photo, a woman is seen on a bed with things strewn around her. This is something Shashiprabha Agnihotri saw when her son was admitted. “The medical ward is absolutely filthy, as if the place has never ever been cleaned,” she told Gaon Connection.
