Goa minister takes U-turn, tells Assembly no death occurred at GMCH due to oxygen shortage

Over two months after saying that several COVID-19 patients died due to oxygen shortage at the state-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has now told the Legislative Assembly that the facility did not face any paucity of the life-saving gas during the pandemic and hence there was no question of any fatality occurring due to it. In his statement in the House made on Friday, Rane said, ''Not a single COVID-19 patient died due to oxygen shortage at the GMCH.'' He was replying to a question tabled on the floor of the House by Leader of Opposition Digambar Kamat.

In the written reply, the minister said, ''At no point in time, the oxygen supplies at GMCH ran out of stock and thus, no death has been reported to have (been) caused due to non-supply of oxygen.'' His statement was contrary to his own remarks made on May 11, in which he had said that 26 persons died within 24 hours at the GMCH due to oxygen shortage.

At that time, Rane had said that between 2 am and 6 am on May 11, these patients had lost their lives as the hospital did not get an adequate supply of oxygen. Goa’s coronavirus caseload on Friday rose to 1,71,052, while the death toll reached 3,146.

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