At the beginning of the new year, at least two more children died in JK Lon Hospital in Rajasthan's Kota on Wednesday night, January 1. The death toll has reached 102 since the onset of December.  According to reports, 10 children have died in the last three days, as eight died on December 30 and 31. Two children were critically ill and were in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Representative image
Representative image. ReutersReuters

'8 kids who died were premature deliveries'

JK Lon's paediatrician department's chief Amritlal Bairwa said the eight kids who died in the last two days of the year were premature deliveries, and not due to not any fault on doctors' part. The weight of the newborns was too less and also their relatives did not follow proper instructions during delivery due to which the pregnant mothers came to the hospital in serious condition, said Bairwa.

Baby toes
The new-born, has already become the centre of attraction in Baruipur village in West Bengal.Markus Reinhardt/Flickr

963 registered deaths in 2019

The JK Lon Hospital registered 963 deaths in 2019. The committee formed after much furore, in its report concluded that the deaths were reported due to lack of oxygen pipeline in the hospital and extreme cold conditions.

Dulara further said: "As compared to other government hospitals, this number stands quite low. Also, one death a day means that the death rate is falling down in this hospital, which witnessed 91 deaths in December last year."

Gorakhpur hospital tragedy

At least 60 infants died in August 2017 in Gorakhpur's Baba Raghav Das (BRD) Medical College, allegedly due to lack of oxygen supply. The hospital authorities, however, denied this claim and said that the infants died due to encephalitis.

(With inputs from agencies)