Andhra COVID-19 patient dies on road after abandoned by scared auto driver
GUNTUR: A body of a COVID-19 positive patient was found on a road in the Sattenapalli town of Guntur district where he died while waiting for more than an hour for an autorickshaw to take him to the hospital on Sunday.
"We got information at around 3.15 PM today that body of a man who tested positive for COVID-19 is lying on a road in Sattenapalli town of Guntur district after he died there while waiting for an auto to take him to the hospital," S Vijayachandra, inspector Sattenapalli Town Police Station told ANI.
The inspector said that the police and the Municipal Corporation team had reached the spot and taken the body to the burial ground and he was buried by 5 pm.
"The body was on the road for some time but that's the minimum time it takes to get concerned teams of people to the site of the incident," the inspector added.
Recounting the chain of events, a local from the neighbourhood said that the victim complained of breathlessness in the morning and hired an auto to take him to the hospital. Meanwhile, a ward volunteer informed him about his corona-positive status and said he would be taken to a quarantine centre. After waiting a long time, he called the volunteer who asked him to go to Guntur.
"They hailed an auto but the driver got scared on learning his positive status and refused to take him and left the place. Unable to return to his house, the man collapsed on the road. Family members then contacted the volunteer who said he would inform his senior officials and come later. After which they even called the 108 ambulance but it too did not arrive. He was on the road for almost one hour, but nobody responded. He has two daughters, but nobody came forward to help," the local said.
In the last 24 hours, 5041 new COVID-19 positive cases and 56 deaths have been reported in Andhra Pradesh. The total number of cases rise to 49650 including 26118 active cases, 22890 discharges and 642 deaths informed the State COVID-19 Nodal Officer.