VIJAYAWADA: THE body of a Covid victim was allegedly left unattended for more than three hours at New Government General Hospital (GGH) in Vijayawada on Wednesday. A video of the incident was posted on a social media platform.
A woman, who shot the video, told TNIE that around 8:30 am the patient fell from her bed and no staff responded for more than three hours. “I took the issue to the notice of the hospital staff, but no one attended to her till 12 pm,” she said. The woman is herself infected and shared the ward with the victim. In another video taken by her, unhygienic toilets at the state Covid hospital could be seen. After it went viral on social media, sanitation staff cleaned the toilets around 3 pm.
The ward has at least one pregnant woman. “At present, I do not have any symptoms. So I requested the hospital authorities to allow me to go under home isolation,” she added. The woman said she and her family were informed that they tested positive on Tuesday, and thus were shifted to the hospital in an ambulance the same day. “Even though we reached the state Covid hospital around 3 pm, the staff attended to us at 9 pm. My grandfather is 70 year-old and has breathing problems. I asked the staff to provide him a bed or at least an oxygen cylinder when we arrived. The oxygen cylinder was provided around 9 pm, and beds an hour later.”
Meanwhile, district collector A Md Imtiaz said a detailed inquiry into the issue has been ordered and such irregularities will not be taken lightly. Also, former chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu shared the video on Twitter.