Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Ministers have claimed that officials did not discuss the crisis in oxygen supply during his visit to the BRD medical college hospital in Gorakhpur on August 9.
While the minute details of his interaction with the doctors there are unknown, during his visit Mr. Adityanath inspected the Japanese Encephalitis/Acute Encephalitis Syndrome ward.
Mr. Adityanath had also cautioned doctors that no patient should die due to lack of medical care. “He instructed doctors that patients should receive better treatment and no patient should die due to lack of medical care [upchaar ka abhaav],” said the government statement issued on Wednesday evening.
Nine children died in the hospital that day, including two in the AES ward. Twenty-one children died on August 7 and 8, including five in the AES ward, prior to his visit.
The figure took a big jump on August 10 when 23 children died. The government admitted that the supply of oxygen was interrupted on the night of August 10 but stressed that no deaths were caused due to this or during the period when oxygen supply was hit.
Inspections conducted
On Wednesday, Mr. Adityanath conducted a bed-to-bed inspection of the wards, unveiled a 10-BED ICU and six-bed CCI wards. He also inaugurated a CCU ward for critical children affected by JE and AES.
According to the government, Mr. Adityanath had also inspected the emergency ward, infant ward, and ICU and checked on the availability of medicines.
Mr. Adityanath later conducted a review meeting with health officials and doctors from Gorakpur and Basti divisions. Incidentally, he had made another visit to the hospital on July 9.
