It went unnoticed, unsupervised and unchecked: reportSeven workers at a Pakistan hospital who left scores of COVID-19 patients without sufficient oxygen for hours have been suspended after several of their charges died, authorities said. Five patients in the COVID-19 isolation ward and one in the intensive care unit at the government-run hospital in Peshawar died due to the delay in sourcing oxygen, a preliminary report said late on Sunday. The chronic oxygen deficiency “went unnoticed, unsupervised and unchecked,” the report said, adding that no backup oxygen supply had been put in place. Hospital spokesman Farhad Khan told AFP on Sunday that a disruption in oxygen supplies affected some 200 people, including nearly 100 with coronavirus. Pakistan has reported more than 4,00,000 cases of coronavirus — including over 8,000 deaths — since it arrived in late February.

Source: The Hindu December 07, 2020 16:38 UTC