Editor's Pick: The hiding of oxygen-deprivation deaths

The Central government's statement in the Rajya Sabha that none of the States in the country had registered any deaths due to lack of oxygen has led to criticism from public health experts. The statement was made by Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar while detailing the Centre's actions during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when massive oxygen shortages hit the hospitals across the country. Experts agree that the immediate cause of death will not be recorded as being due to lack of oxygen. Doctors told The Hindu that lack of oxygen is treated as an unnatural cause of death and would involve police cases. However, what public health experts are criticising is a lack of acknowledgement of the scenes that the country witnessed in April and May of this year. People died in hospitals and at homes as the oxygen supply chain could not keep up with the demand. Social media was filled with calls for aid while news media reported hospital deaths in the dozens as oxygen tanks emptied. After all this, for the Central government to take the official stance that there were no deaths due to lack of oxygen based on the technicality of registered cause of death is callous, according to the health experts. The Centre, however, could always claim that health is a State subject and that it is stating numbers sent in by the Sates. Several reports by The Hindu and others have already shown that the number of deaths in various States due to COVD-19 are way higher than what has been officially reported, putting in doubt India's COVD-19 numbers. In this context, the hiding of deaths due to lack of oxygen also becomes more grating for those tracking the health sector. This is what makes the story important. Today's Editorials Dealing with denial: On playing down the COVID-19 tragedy Water as woe: On Mumbai’s annual mayhem Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. Click here Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Name the rocket that transported Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and three others into space and back in its first ever flight. 1. Amazon Galactica 2. New Shepard 3. Ulysses 4. Armstrong To find out the answer and play the full quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 22 JULY 2021 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( The hiding of oxygen-deprivation deaths [The hiding of oxygen-deprivation deaths] The Central government's statement in the Rajya Sabha that none of the States in the country had registered any deaths due to lack of oxygen[has led to criticism]( from public health experts. [The statement]( was made by Minister of State, Health and Family Welfare, Bharati Pravin Pawar while detailing the Centre's actions during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic when massive oxygen shortages hit the hospitals across the country. Experts agree that the immediate cause of death will not be recorded as being due to lack of oxygen. Doctors told The Hindu that lack of oxygen is treated as an unnatural cause of death and would involve police cases. However, what public health experts are criticising is a lack of acknowledgement of the scenes that the country witnessed in April and May of this year. People died in hospitals and at homes as the oxygen supply chain could not keep up with the demand. Social media was filled with calls for aid while news media reported hospital deaths in the dozens as oxygen tanks emptied. After all this, for the Central government to take the official stance that there were no deaths due to lack of oxygen based on the technicality of registered cause of death is callous, according to the health experts. The Centre, however, could always claim that health is a State subject and that it is stating numbers sent in by the Sates. Several reports by The Hindu and others have already shown that the number of deaths in various States due to COVD-19 are way higher than what has been officially reported, putting in doubt [India's COVD-19 numbers](. In this context, the hiding of deaths due to lack of oxygen also becomes more grating for those tracking the health sector. This is what makes the story important. Today's Editorials [Arrow][Dealing with denial: On playing down the COVID-19 tragedy]( [Arrow][Water as woe: On Mumbai’s annual mayhem](  [underlineimg] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor's Pick and more. [Click here]( [underlineimg] Try out The Hindu's daily news quiz Name the rocket that transported Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and three others into space and back in its first ever flight. 1. Amazon Galactica 2. New Shepard 3. Ulysses 4. 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