BJP government in Uttar Pradesh led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has claimed that no one has died due to lack of oxygen during the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in the state.
According to the state government, there is no mention of ‘death due to lack of oxygen’ in any of the 22,915 patients who died due to COVID-19 in the death certificates.
Uttar Pradesh Health Minister Jai Pratap Singh told the Legislative Council, “No death is reported in the state due to lack of oxygen during the second wave.” He made this claim while replying to Congress MLC Deepak Singh, who later asked in a query whether the government had details of similar cases.
He asked, “Many ministers have written letters saying that deaths are taking place due to lack of oxygen in the state. Apart from this, many MPs had also made such complaints. Many incidents of death due to lack of oxygen have come to the fore. Does the government have any information about these deaths across the state? Has the government not seen dead bodies floating in the Ganges and people suffering due to lack of oxygen?”
Responding to his questions, the Health Minister clarified that a doctor issues a death certificate in case a hospitalized patient dies. He said there was no mention of ‘death due to lack of oxygen’ anywhere in the 22,915 death certificates issued by doctors for COVID-19 victims in the state.
The second wave of corona in India came between April and June. Thousands of people died during this. There were reports of shortage of oxygen in all parts of the country. There were lines everywhere for oxygen. There were also reports of death due to lack of oxygen in some hospitals.
In the last session, the central government had also claimed that no one died due to lack of oxygen in the country. However, after the uproar from the opposition, the government replied that this claim has been made on the basis of information received from the states. Later, the government told Parliament that some people died during the second wave of corona due to lack of oxygen in Andhra Pradesh.