MYSURU: A 60-year-old Covid-19 patient from Periyapatna taluk in Mysuru district, who was brought to Mysuru in a government ambulance, was not provided treatment at a designated Covid-19 hospital. More shockingly, she was later buried as an ‘unidentified body’ without the family even being informed, according to family.
Ratna (name changed), a widow from Nandipura village, tested positive on September 18 in Periyapatna and was taken from there to a hospital in Mysuru city in a government ambulance, according to her brother Bhaskarachar. There was no information about her for the next two weeks. After running from one police station to another, when the family finally approached the Metagalli police station in Mysuru by October 30, they found out that she has already been buried as an ‘unidentified body’ as she was found dead on the road near the Covid hospital around 12 am on September 19, with no identity papers on her, said Bhaskarachar.
However, what remain unexplained is how the woman was found dead outside the hospital. It may be recalled that Mysuru was at its peak in terms of Covid-19 cases in September and many had complained about lack of beds in hospitals. The brother has blamed the local authorities and the ambulance driver for their plight.
Bhaskarachar told reporters here on Tuesday that the family was under the impression that Ratna was under treatment, but when there was no news about her, they inquired with the Mysuru hospital, where the authorities, to the family’s shock, responded saying that they had not admitted anyone by that name.
No record of admitting patient: health officer
Perplexed, Ratna’s kin approached the Ravandur police and then the Periyapatna police. Since both police stations did not register a missing person’s complaint, they rang up the Metagalli police station near the Covid hospital from where Bhaskarachar was sent pictures of unidentified bodies. The family was horrified to find Ratna among them, he said.
When TNIE contacted Periyapatna health officials, they admitted to having recorded the patient, but said that they had sent her to the designated Covid-19 hospital. Shockingly, hospital authorities denied having admitted the patient. “It was the peak of Covid cases and we used to have 500-odd admissions and testing every day. It was total chaos and we were short of beds too,” a doctor at the hospital said requesting anonymity.
“We do not have any records of admitting her to the designated Covid hospital,” said Mysuru District Health Officer T Amarnath. Asked about allegations of lapses on their part, he said that no formal complaint has been raised by anybody on the issue yet.The Metagalli police too claimed that they do not have a provision to register a case regarding the incident.The family had to go through more ordeals after Bhaskarachar’s wife and 90-year-old grandmother were taken from Periyapatna to Mysuru in a government ambulance after testing positive. This was just a day after the sister tested positive.
“After being dropped off in Mysuru at midnight, doctors there sent them back saying there was no need for them to be hospitalised and that they can isolate at home. With no money in hand, they were dropped to the KSRTC bus station in Mysuru from where they rang us up from a stranger’s phone and we picked them up. My grandmother’s health deteriorated and she succumbed a few days later. Now I have lost my sister also and we did not even know about it. Now our family is also being discriminated against by our neighbours,” Bhaskarachar said.