People wait to refill their medical oxygen cylinders for the Covid-19 coronavirus patients under home quarantine at a private refill centre in New Delhi on May 4. Prakash Singh/AFP/Getty ImagesA court in India on Tuesday said that deaths of Covid-19 patients due to lack of oxygen is a “criminal act and not less than a genocide," according to a judgement posted on the court's website. In a strong criticism of the Uttar Pradesh government’s handling of the crisis, the state’s top court cited videos showing hoarding of oxygen cylinders and harassment of poor people begging for an oxygen cylinder. “We find these news items showing a quite contrary picture to one claimed by the (state) government that there was sufficient supply of oxygen,” the court stated. It pointed out two specific stories of Covid-19 patients allegedly dying due to the lack of oxygen in the cities of Meerut and Lucknow, and directed the state government to take “immediate remedial measures" and ordered an inquiry into the two cases.

Source: CNN May 04, 2021 21:39 UTC