'Oxygen Langar': Ghaziabad gurudwara offers oxygen cylinders to COVID-19 patients
What's the story
Amid the devastating COVID-19 crisis in Delhi-NCR, a gurudwara in Indirapuram, Ghaziabad has started an "Oxygen Langar" - an initiative to help coronavirus patients suffering from respiratory problems.
The Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, along with an NGO called Khalsa Help International, reportedly started administering free oxygen on Thursday evening.
Here are more details on this.
Details
700+ patients visited the gurudwara by Friday
According to a report by The Hindu, more than 700 patients had availed the service by Friday evening.
In fact, a long queue of patients who were in need of oxygen was seen outside the gurudwara last afternoon.
Arrangements were also made to provide oxygen support to such patients who were unable to get out of their cars.
Details
'Will provide oxygen till patients get beds at a hospital'
People from East Delhi, Sahibabad, and other parts of Ghaziabad rushed to the gurudwara to seek help.
Gurpreet Singh, the head of the gurudwara committee, reportedly said, "Be it two, four, or eight hours, we will provide oxygen till the time the patient gets a bed at any hospital."
They have also launched a helpline number (9097041313), using which people can book their slots.
Quote
'We have been able to save 200 lives'
"Till now we have been able to save around 200 lives. We request the DM and VK Singh ji to provide us with 25 oxygen cylinders for 12 hours which will to help us save 1,000 lives (sic)," the gurudwara manager told news agency ANI.
Gratitude
Patients express gratitude to the gurudwara committee
Sunita Seth said her husband required oxygen but they were unable to manage a cylinder from anywhere. "I dialed all helpline numbers that I found on social media but all in vain."
"My neighbor then told me about the oxygen facility at gurudwara and I rushed here with my husband. I am thankful to the gurudwara committee for providing oxygen support," she reportedly said.
Crisis
Hospitals run out of oxygen as COVID-19 grips India
Several hospitals in and around Delhi have been reporting an acute shortage of medical oxygen to treat coronavirus patients, while many people have lost their lives due to the crisis.
The situation has worsened over the past few weeks as a dreadful second wave of COVID-19 gripped India.
The country has been reporting lakhs of new infections and hundreds of fatalities daily.