CHENNAI/RAMANATHAPURAM: A controversy has erupted after the swab test result of a 70-year-old man who had died at the Government Stanley Hospital, returned positive for COVID-19 two days after his burial.
Alleging that the hospital authorities didn’t inform them about the likelihood of COVID-19 being the reason for the man’s death, the relatives expressed fear that they couldn’t take adequate safety precautions while burying the body. Meanwhile, over 100 people who attended the man’s funeral have been home-quarantined in Ramanathapuram after the result came out.
The deceased, a resident of Chennai and native of Keelakarai in Ramanathapuram, had a travel history to Dubai. He was admitted to Stanley Hospital at 9.45 am on April 2 and he died at 11.45 am on the same day without responding to treatment, according to a Health Department statement.
Speaking to Express, a family member of the deceased said, “At the hospital, we were neither informed that he was a suspected COVID-19 patient nor that his samples were drawn for testing. The body was handed over to us wrapped in a green-coloured cloth. We took the body to Keelakarai in an ambulance the same night.”
The family reached Keelakarai in the early hours of Friday and the body was kept for paying homage for a few hours before it was buried around 10 am as per religious customs, said local sources.“Two days after his death, health officials on Saturday around 10 pm informed us that test samples returned positive for COVID-19,” told the family member.
Ramanathapuram Collector Veera Raghava Rao said that 11 family members and five men who washed the corpse had direct contact with the deceased.
“Besides, 85 others visited the house to pay homage. All these 101 persons are asymptomatic and have been kept under home quarantine. Their swab and blood samples would be taken if they develop symptoms.”
Inspecting the disinfection procedures being carried out around the house, the Collector said the area has been sealed and police deployed.
Sources close to the family said Ramanathapuram MLA and former minister M Manikandan who had visited the deceased man’s residence to pay homage, has been advised to stay under quarantine.
Meanwhile, speaking to mediapersons in Chennai, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh refuted any wrongdoing from the part of the hospital.
“The man came very late and was in the hospital for only two hours. In that time the doctors did everything they could. Samples were also taken and sent for testing. After coming from Dubai he was under home quarantine. Following necessary guidelines, the body was handed over after packaging.”
A senior doctor at the hospital said the family was informed that the man could have died of COVID-19. “We handed over the body and told them to follow the protocols. He was taking treatment locally for one week. He even took a CT scan on March 27 after coming from Dubai on March 15.”
However, the hospital has come under fire for the delay in getting the test results. The hospital management, however, denied the charges and said the samples were sent to King Institute, Guindy and the results were received on Saturday night.