HYDERABAD: In a time when the pandemic is wreaking havoc across the world, there is no peace even in death -- this is what families, who have lost their loved ones to the highly contagious disease, feel.
On Thursday, one such family in Hyderabad had to wait for almost eight hours to get clarity on the cremation procedure for their loved one who succumbed to COVD-19. They were caught in the chaos at a private hospital in Hitec City, where the staff had no clue about the government protocol on where and how to keep the body in the mortuary.
"Around 1 pm we got to know that my friend's mother had passed away. We reached the hospital and found that the staff was completely clueless about the protocol. They made us go up and down the building to meet different officials.
Every official directed us to someone else. We wanted to keep the body in the mortuary so that we could get some time to prepare for the funeral. But we got to know that only Gandhi Hospital keeps bodies of the Covid-19 deceased, which is about 20 km away. So, we dropped the plan," Ramanjeet Singh Aulakh, a family friend, said.
He continued to explain how hospitals lacked empathy and did not bother to counsel the bereaved.
"If only they had a counsellor, who would run us through the process, and give us a list of contacts to seek various permissions, things would have been easier. The government should, at least, have a standard operating procedure for hospitals regarding breaking the bad news to the families of the deceased," Aulakh said.
But their pains didn't end there. When the family found a crematorium, a fresh set of hiccups involving governmental formalities surfaced. "The hospital insisted that a police officer be present while handing over the body to the family. But there was no police present. We had to make many calls to take the body out of the hospital," he said.
After finally receiving the body at 6 pm from the hospital, they left for the crematorium near ESI Hospital, where again no SOPs were in place.
"These are the hard realities of #Covid_19, my friend's mother expired due to COVID and only shoulder available to him was me, no last rights, body put on cremation along with 7 other bodies which were burning nearby. Should a bereaved family member mourn for his loss or run about to fulfil formalities? (sic)" tweeted Aulakh.