Deaths of Covid patients at Peshawar hospital spark probe

Ag Agencies

PESHAWAR: At least seven patients—most of them coronavirus sufferers—died after “criminal negligence” resulted in a delayed supply of oxygen to a hospital in Peshawar, officials said on Sunday, as the country battles a second wave of the epidemic.

More than 200 patients—including nearly 100 with coronavirus—were left for hours with limited supplies of oxygen at a government-run Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) in Peshawar.

Hospital authorities told Geo News that the incident took place on Saturday when the Covid-19 patients died due to non-supply of oxygen. Hospital sources disclosed patients in other wards of the hospital were also facing difficulties due to the absence of oxygen cylinders.

“The sad incident happened due to lack of central oxygen supply in the hospital,” provincial health minister Taimur Saleem Jhagra told a press conference, confirming the deaths. “We will hold an inquiry and get to the bottom of the incident,” he added, promising action against those responsible “for this criminal negligence”.

On his Twitter account, Jhagra said there was an incident involving a shortage of oxygen supply. “I have directed the Board of Governors (BoG), to conduct an immediate inquiry and take action within 48 hours or if otherwise required, government will immediately order its own independent inquiry,” he added.

Hospital spokesman Farhad Khan told AFP a disruption in oxygen supplies affected some 200 people, “including 96 Covid-19 patients”. He blamed a private supplier, saying the Rawalpindi-based company had “failed to meet the growing demand”.

State media quoted Farhad Khan as saying five of the deceased were patients of Covid-19. Another official of the KTH said there were about 120 back-up oxygen cylinders, but due to a spike in coronavirus infections, a sudden shortage occurred.

Provincial labour minister and former KP government spokesman Shaukat Yousafzai said an inquiry had been ordered and “stern action” would be taken on the people found to be negligent.

KP Chief Minister Mahmood Khan gave assurances that a probe of the incident would be completed within 48 hours. He also promised “stern action” against responsible persons.

Pakistan has reported more than 400,000 cases of coronavirus—including over 8,000 deaths—since the virus arrived in late February. Intensive care units in hospitals across the country are now almost full, with provincial governments struggling to deal with the soaring caseload.

Active Covid-19 cases rose to 53,126 after 3,308 more people tested positive in the 24-hours leading to Sunday, according to the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC). Fifty-eight patients died in the same period. Some 2,996 coronavirus patients were admitted in hospitals across the country, 2,436 were critical while 327 were on ventilators.

The national Covid positivity ratio rose to 7.94 per cent. The highest positivity ratio was observed in Mirpur — 22 per cent—followed by Karachi 17.39 per cent and Peshawar 16.02 per cent.