BENGALURU: More than 200 lives were saved due to the timely action taken by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister Dr C N Ashwatha Narayana and Dr Renuka Prasad of KC General Hospital at Malleshwaram in Bengaluru City after he ordered oxygen from another hospital close by on Wednesday night when the O2 supply had started depleting.

As per reports, the six tonnes capacity oxygen storage tank was left with 0.5 tonnes by Wednesday night. There were about 200 patients being treated in the oxygenated beds in the Hospital. Oxygen supply, which was supposed to come from a private company from Bellary, had not yet arrived.

Sensing the urgency in the situation Dr Renuka Prasad immediately called and apprised Deputy CM Narayana, who is also the Malleshwaram MLA. He swiftly checked for availability of oxygen at the nearby places and located a private company at Dabaspete on the Bengaluru- Pune National Highway.

He placed an order with them while explaining the gravity of the situation, to provide 20 jumbo cylinders. They responded positively to send oxygen in a tanker to the hospital. The oxygen tank was refilled to 5.5 tonnes which was 90 per cent of the storage capacity by Thursday morning. Traffic police were also put on high alert to ensure zero traffic for the tanker to reach the hospital in the shortest time.

On Wednesday, Karnataka reported 50,112 infections and 346 deaths. This took the total caseload to nearly 17.5 lakhs and the fatalities to 16,884. Bengaluru Urban alone accounted for 23,106 infections and 161 deaths. Karnataka, which is currently on a partial lockdown, is waiting for further instructions from the Centre on what restrictions should be imposed to stop COVID-19 from spreading in the state.

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