A shortage of the oxygen of truth

A reality that the whole country suffered was plainly denied

Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Bharti Pravin Pawar’s statement in the Rajya Sabha that “no deaths due to lack of oxygen have been specifically reported by states/UTs” contradicts the information that is in the public domain. The minister was at best being very technical, ignoring reality and shutting her eyes on a sorry situation that existed in many parts of the country. The statement was based on reports from states which did not attribute deaths to lack of oxygen. Death certificates or other medical records do not identify the cause of a Covid death as lack of oxygen, but that is no reason for governments to deny the specific reason for death. Giving the exact number of deaths that happened due to oxygen shortage might have been difficult, but the response should not have been a blanket denial.

Read more: Oxygen crisis: The night a Delhi hospital gasped for breath

There was a shortage of oxygen in many parts of the country, including Karnataka, during the second wave of the pandemic in April-May. Many hospitals had made appeals for oxygen and patients had died as it was not available in time. The Supreme Court had told the central government to supply oxygen to hospitals in the national capital, and the government had increased the production of medical oxygen. The shortage of oxygen and the resulting panic and deaths had become such a public and well-reported scandal that denying it now is false and disingenuous. The many families who lost their dear ones because oxygen was not available in time would find the denial offensive. The Centre should not have accepted the reports provided by the states without application of mind. Everyone wants to deny unpleasant facts and to pass the buck, but the denial should not be taken to such absurd and questionable lengths.

Also read: No specific reports of deaths due to oxygen shortage during second Covid-19 wave: Centre

Such statements, which are blatantly at variance with known facts, erode the government’s credibility. Other assertions and claims made by it on the pandemic and its management and even on other matters would be considered as unreliable by people. The government might also be considered insensitive as the matter concerned the lives of people in the most distressed situations. The need for the government to maintain public trust and to be sensitive and empathetic is important in times of crisis. The collection, recording and interpretation of data about all aspects of Covid, including infections, fatalities and recoveries, has been problematic from the beginning. It is widely known that a lot of data has been suppressed by governments at all levels. It should be realised that misrepresentation and lack of transparency and accountability will only be counterproductive and set back the fight against the pandemic.