A body of an elderly man was left unattended for over four hours after he died of Covid-19 at the Nimapara Covid Care Centre (CCC) in Puri district on Tuesday night. Moreover, family members of deceased Maheswar Swain (76) of Kajipatana alleged that he died due to negligence on the part of the hospital.
Swain had been admitted to the CCC on Sunday. A day after when his condition deteriorated, his family requested the hospital authorities to shift him to Puri or Bhubaneswar. However, the authorities allegedly did not make any such arrangement. On Tuesday, Swain’s condition further worsened. At around 7 pm when hospital staffs were about to shift him to Puri in an ambulance, he died.
Since he was already taken out of the hospital on a stretcher by the time, the hospital staff allegedly abandoned the body on the road leaving his helpless wife alone with her dead husband. Tension prevailed in the area after the body was left unattended for over two hours. Irate locals also ransacked an oxygen cylinder of the hospital and demanded action against those responsible for negligence leading to the patient’s death.
Police and local Tehsildar reached the spot to pacify the mob. Later, the body was cremated as per the Government guidelinesThe hospital authorities have refuted the allegation of negligence saying the patient had co-morbidities.