THE episode of death of as many as 24 coronavirus patients owing to a leak in oxygen supply in a Nashik hospital is truly unfortunate, to say the least. It only adds to the overall trauma the larger society has been facing for the past one year in general and during the current second surge of the ugly virus in particular. In the recent times, several incidents of fire in hospitals killing several patients (COVID or non-COVID), too, have come to light from across the country. All these point to a major area of larger concern that needs a maximum care and caution. Of course, the Maharashtra Government has set up a committee to investigate into the Nashik incident.

 

That investigation will hopefully bring to fore not just the general flaws in maintenance of the particular hospital but also identify the persons who should be held fully responsible for such a mishap. Once identified, the guilty should be given maximum punishment as per the law and nobody should try to save them from the legal and administrative consequences. It is beyond words to imagine the trauma that hit those patients under ventilator cover. They got suffocated to death as the supply of oxygen got affected due to the reported leak in the gas-release valve. The hospital management also took a seemingly interminable time to identify what was happening and then to plug the leak and ensure safety of the suffocating patients. In those precious minutes, so many people lost lives. Hence the public outcry -- that has little to do with politics. It is obvious that Maharashtra is proving to be the worst-managed State in the country as far as handling of coronavirus is concerned.

 

The figures of persons in Maharashtra dying of the ugly viral infection or affected by it are the highest in the country, giving a clear impression that the Government has failed singularly in handling the challenge effectively. No matter the blame-game ravaging the political circles for the past few months, it is clear even to common people that the Maharashtra Government has not been able to fashion an appropriate response to the dangerous challenge. For a while, the State Government did try to point to the size of the population. But subsequent details also proved that Uttar Pradesh, for example, that has the country’s largest population, is affected much less than Maharashtra. A fair assessment of the performance other States on the coronavirus front, too, points to a major failure on the part of the Maharashtra Government. We would never take sides in the blame-game now dominating the political arena in Maharashtra, but we will also not shy away from making it clear that the Maharashtra Government headed by Chief Minister Mr. Uddhav Thackeray must take a serious second look at its own performance and take corrective steps so that it is able to manage the coronavirus challenge more effectively.

 

We would also appeal to the leaders of Maharashtra Government to examine if the three-party coalition in power offers the reasons for such a massive failure. In other words, we wonder if there is no centralised command-and-control system operating in Maharashtra to handle the coronavirus challenge. We assert here that our concern is totally apolitical and stems from considerations of larger societal interest. The Nashik incident points to multiple flaws, and all those should be exposed through the investigation ordered by the Government of Maharashtra. The incident also shouts in favour of greater diligence in hospital-management in general. For, as the State combats the scourge, the people are coming across countless examples of bad handling of the details leading to the problem becoming more severe -- in terms of supply of oxygen, vaccines, of availability of Remdesivir injections, and professionalism in the general treatment. Some of these areas are applicable on an all-India level, thus highlighting the need to spruce up the general act of coronavirus care all over the country.