Life has become hell for me after I lost my husband on April 30 due to coronavirus. I visited the hospital several times but the hospital administration didn’t have any record of my husband’s death due to corona. Now, how will I get a death certificate from the municipal corporation? I am alone and not financially stable to take care of my two minor children,” said Asha (changed name), resident of Panchkula with eyes welling up.
Asha further said, “My husband got a fever on April 29 and was admitted to Panchkula based Government Hospital. The doctor says he died of cardiac arrest. The Hospital administration handed over the body to family members without giving them a corona negative report of my husband. Two members of my family who had participated in the cremation of my husband on April 30, were infected and tested corona positive and later died. Even after one and half months, the hospital administration didn’t release my husband’s death certificate with the exact cause of death. We heard that the Centre and State governments announced compensation for the death of Covid-19 patient but how will we prove that my husband died of Covid-19?”
Asha is not the only one with such an experience. Many are facing hardships in getting death certificates of their loved ones who succumbed to Covid-19. Many hospitals do not have any record of the deaths due to Corona. Some hospitals even are releasing misleading death certificates by mentioning the cause of death as some illness, cardiac arrest, or some other, many family members allege.
Amit Choudhary, a resident of Hisar said, “I lost my father due to Covid-19 but the hospital handed over the death certificate stating that he died of cardiac arrest. I requested them to correct it but the hospital administration said they can’t change their record.”
Another woman of Panchkula said that her husband died on April 1 due to covid-19 and shortness of breath after battling for life for around an hour in Government Civil Hospital. On approaching the Panchkula Municipal Corporation for a death certificate, she was told that they had not received any report from the Hospital. On enquiring with the Hospital, they denied having any such report saying as he was admitted to the hospital; they did not have any connection with coronavirus.
A retired Panchkula-based health official said that people are facing trauma and trouble due to missing or misleading records of the hospitals. Now, hospitals are also taking advantage of the state government’s lack of transparency in maintaining the records. Government should take corrective measures to address the concerns of aggrieved families that lost their loved ones due to coronavirus, he added.
When asked about people facing hardships in getting death certificates of their loved ones who succumbed to Covid-19, Panchkula Civil Surgeon Dr Jasjeet Kaur told ‘The Pioneer’ over the phone that aggrieved family members are given such certificates within a stipulated time. "For this, the authorities concerned have been strictly directed to provide a corona death certificate to aggrieved family members at the earliest. Anyone can directly approach me if they are facing problems to receive such a certificate in Panchkula district,” she added.