Jordan’s health minister Nathir Obeidat, has resigned amid growing anger after several COVID-19 patients died at a hospital when their oxygen supply ran out.
Obeidat “submitted his resignation out of the concept of “moral responsibility and the resignation was accepted by the king” , Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh has said.
Aljazeera reports that the state media on Saturday reported at least seven deaths at the government hospital in the town of al-Salt, some 20 kilometres) north of the capital, Amman.
Khasawneh ordered an investigation, while King Abdullah II arrived at the hospital to help calm angry families who had gathered outside.
The king also ordered the hospital’s director suspended.
“How could such a thing happen. This is unacceptable,” the King said.
Al Jazeera said about 150 relatives of the patients had gathered outside the facility, which was surrounded by a large deployment of police and security officers, who prevented the families from
entering.
Al Jazeera also reports that the oxygen cut started from 6am and lasted until 8am, which prompted the hospital administration to seek
help from ambulances and civil defence teams.
It said the oxygen failure hit the intensive care, maternity and
coronavirus wards in the hospital. Witnesses said when the oxygen ran
out, they were forced to do Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) on
their own family members to try and keep them alive.
