KAKINADA: The body of a Covid-19 patient was shifted from the Government General Hospital allegedly without the permission of the hospital authorities and cremated by the family members in Kakinada on Tuesday. Police and medical officials shifted the five primary contacts to GGH for Covid-19 tests, while some others were asked to be in home quarantine. According to police and medical officials, a 72-year-old woman from Kakinada was admitted to the GGH on Sunday as she fell ill. She died on the same day, while undergoing treatment. Later, the doctors conducted Covid-19 tests on her and her results showed positive on Monday.
On Tuesday, even as the hospital authorities wrapped the body and were waiting for an ambulance to shift it as per protocol, the woman’s family members, who own an auto, took away the body without the permission of the authorities concerned, hospital superintendent Dr M Raghavendra Rao said. As per protocol, the body of the deceased would be wrapped and handed over to the relatives for cremation with suggestions as to how to perform the last rites in the presence of the authorities concerned.
Locals came to know that the family members brought the body home and raised an objection. The family members immediately shifted the body to a crematorium and performed last rites there. After coming to know about the incident, police, revenue, medical and municipal officials rushed there and shifted the primary contacts to the GGH for tests. Speaking to TNIE, municipal health officer Dr P Prasanth said that they cremate the bodies at the electric crematorium under the standard procedure. Joint Collector Keerthi Chekuri reached the hospital and enquired how the family members of the woman took away her body.
East Godavari reports 62 corona cases Kakinada: East Godavari district reported 62 coronavirus cases on Tuesday, taking the count to 1,396. With one more death, the Covid-19 toll mounted to 20 in the district. The district has 243 containment clusters, of which 163 are active. The medical teams have collected 1,07,756 samples so far and the results of 7,317 are awaited. With the discharge of 451 persons from Covid-19 hospitals, the district has 925 active cases. As many as 139 persons are in home isolation. With the spurt in coronavirus cases, the civic officials are strictly implementing containment measures