'Zero Oxygen deaths' report given to HC was preliminary, made in a day: Delhi minister Satyendar Jain

NEW DELHI: Amid row over the Centre’s statement that there was zero deaths of Covid patients in the country due to oxygen shortage, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Friday said the state government’s report to the high court about not being certain if oxygen shortage led to the death of 21 Covid-19 patients at Jaipur Golden Hospital here could be considered a “preliminary report, prepared just in a day”.

“In this particular case, the report had to be submitted in just a day. You can say it was a preliminary report,” he said when asked why the Delhi government’s panel submitted in the high court that no death occurred at Jaipur Golden Hospital due to oxygen shortage.

“For a final report, we had set up a new panel, which was supposed to probe all such deaths, including at Batra Hospital. But the Centre got the panel dissolved through the L-G,” he added. The Delhi government’s report to the high court had referred to the findings of the expert committee which said,

“In view of natural virulent course of the disease and lack of any evidence suggestive of oxygen shortage in the case records, the committee was of the opinion that shortage of oxygen as the cause of death could not be ascertained”.

On Wednesday, Jain had said there have been many deaths due to oxygen shortage in Delhi and other places across the country. He was replying to the Centre’s submission in Rajya Sabha that no deaths due to lack of oxygen were specifically reported by states.

“The Delhi government had set up a panel to collect data on such d e a ths and g ive Rs 5 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased. But the Centre got the panel disbanded through the LG. Else, we would have got the exact data as to how many people died due to oxygen shortage. I think the Centre disbanded the panel so that they could say no one died due to the crisis,” Jain had alleged.

With PTI inputs