At least 16 people lost their lives in Nepal’s Lumbini province as the hospitals they were being treated ran out of oxygen, local media reported. The country’s Covid situation has exploded, and now clocking almost 10,000 cases daily. 

Seven patients died at Bhim Hospital of Bhairahawa, five at Butwal's COVID Special Hospital, and four at Bhairahawa's Universal Teaching Hospital in Lumbini on Wednesday. All of them died within 15 minutes after their oxygen ran out. 

"As we didn't get any response in time, patients died one after another due to lack of oxygen," Shakuntala Gupta, medical superintendent of Bhim Hospital, was quoted as saying by The Himalayan Times. 

Last week, the Nepal government had ordered around 20,000 oxygen cylinders from China. Some of them had already been airlifted from China. Amid the deteriorating situation, the country’s acting Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has sought international assistance to deal with the crisis. 

Kathmandu Valley, the capital district, is the worst affected. Authorities have ordered all government hospitals in the valley to allocate all beds for Covid patients. Private hospitals were ordered to reserve two-third of the total beds for Covid patients. 

Most parts of the country are already under lockdown. 

(SAM)