Many people with corona infection are getting admitted at the Corona Special Ward of Vellore Government Hospital every day. On April 20th, the hospital reported the death of seven people for various reasons. However, Tamil news channels alleged that seven people died because of the scarcity of oxygen cylinder.
According to Collector Shanmugasundar, who went to the scene and conducted an investigation, seven people died for different reasons, including heart failure. He said, “the news that the corona patients have died due to lack of oxygen is completely false. The patients were not transferred to any other hospital and that the oxygen pipeline maintenance was routine. Oxygen maintenance work has nothing to do with death.”
Manivannan, the deputy director of the district health services, said, “ All seven had recovered from the corona infection earlier and they may have died of complications such as heart disease later. No one has died due to lack of oxygen.”
The incident was misreported by Sun News, which said that the patients died due to a lack of oxygen. Even after Collector Shanmugasundaram’s report, Sun News, which had misreported the news, did not delete the video.
Sun News is part of Sun Network, owned by Kalanidhi Maran of Karunanidhi family which is the largest corporate media conglomerate in the country.
Many netizens lashed out at Sun News for resorting to fear mongering by peddling fake news at such trying times. Journalist Sandhya Ravishankar, criticized the irresponsible behaviour of the Tamil news media in instilling fear of an oxygen cylinder scarcity.
Maybe I'm dated but found it strange how some Tamil news channels began going nuts over patients dying due to oxygen shortage in Vellore. After a couple of hours Collector gives an intvw saying those patients who died weren't even #covid +ve & death not due to lack of O2. (1/2)
— Sandhya Ravishankar (@sandhyaravishan) April 20, 2021
ஆளும் கட்சியின் மீது மக்களுக்கு கோபத்தையும், வெறுப்பையும் உண்டு பண்ண @karthikeyannews @karthickselvaa போன்ற திமுக கைக்கூலி செய்யும் வேலை. அவர்களுக்கு உண்மை தெரிந்திருந்தாலும் கூட O2 பற்றாக்குறை என்றே எழுதுவார்கள். இதுவரை செய்தியை டெலீட் செய்யவில்லை.https://t.co/WcQv5oNV14 https://t.co/YopvMJmXr1
— நாட்டாமை (@selvam_jkm) April 20, 2021
Tamil Television channels don't care for truth. They spread only negativity. If they like the ruling party, they will show positive news, but it is doubtful if they will ever care for truth. @ThanthiTV @PTTVOnlineNews @news7tamil @News18TamilNadu @polimernews @CMOTamilNadu https://t.co/BHbcBkYGDA
— Kathiravan (@anjankumaran) April 20, 2021
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