MADURAI: A 68-year-old man died at the government quarantine facility established at Institute of Cooperative Management in Chinna Udaippu on Sunday. The inmates of the facility cited a lack of immediate medical assistance as the reason for the death.
Sources said that the man from Aruppukottai in Virudhunagar district fell ill around 1 am on Sunday, and he was battling for life for hours.
"His family members tried to resuscitate him through CPR. The ambulance arrived only around 2.45 am. By that time, the sexagenarian had died," they said.
Protesting against lack of immediate medical assistance, the inmates refused to take their meal on Sunday until police and revenue officials intervened. Their swab samples were taken around 1 pm.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, the staff attached to 108 ambulance services said that they received the distress call for the ambulance around 2.15 am, and the ambulance reached the spot around 2.30 am.
"At that time, the elderly man had no pulse. Although 108 ambulances do not transport corpses, we decided to carry the body in the ambulance, since arranging a hearse would delay the procedures further. We started from the facility around 3.15 am and the ambulance reached the COVID-19 block of Government Rajaji Hospital around 3.30 am," they added.
A 35-year-old engineer, quarantined at the facility said, "Nearly 70 of us boarded the Shramik special train from various points in Gujarat on May 20 and reached Madurai railway station around 4 pm on May 22. From the station, all of us were taken directly to the facility in buses and have been lodged here since then."
The construction engineer, working in Gandhi Nagar in Gujarat, added, "Four of us have been made to stay in each room. The facility lacks adequate toilets and bathrooms. Women are forced to share two common bathrooms while the men use the other two common bathrooms. It is at these bathrooms that we have to wash hands and plates before and after our meals."
Denying the allegations, an official at the health department said that medical help is available at the facility round-the-clock and that the man died due to heart attack. He had tested negative for COVID-19.
"His body was later handed over to the family members after performing autopsy," he added.