Another bizarre incident has brought Gujarat’s esteemed Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has raised questions about the handling of the COVID-19 crisis. A patient in Ahmedabad Civil Hospital was cremated with COVID-19 protocols. The next day, his family was left clueless when they received a call from the same hospital saying that the man has tested negative and he is being shifted to General Ward.
Devrambhai Bhisikar was admitted to the COVID-19 isolation ward of Ahmedabad Civil Hospital on 28 May with fever, cough and breathlessness – all symptoms of COVID-19.
What Actually Happened?
A day after being admitted, Bhisikar passed away and his body was handed over to his family before his test results arrived. As mandated for suspected COVID-19 cases, his body was wrapped in PPE kit and cremated with proper COVID-19 protocols.
A report by The Hindu, quoted the son-in-law of Devrambhai Bhisikar as as saying that in the morning after the cremation, the family was informed that Bhisikar’s health was improving and that he had been shifted to the general ward.
Clarifying on the incident, the Gujarat’s Prinicial Health Secretary Dr Jayanti S Ravi told The Quint that “The patient was admitted in a very poor condition of health and he was placed in a ward meant for suspected case. He was suffering from ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) and the hospital had immediately started providing treatment for his existing health condition while his COVID-19 results were awaited.”
“But unfortunately before his results came, he succumbed to ARDS,”she added. “We have a system where even if a person is suspected to be COVID-19 and dies before results are declared, we follow the same protocols meant for cremation of COVID-19 positive people.”
She further said, “In the meantime, there is a control room in the hospital where you get the list of all the samples that are sent to the lab the previous day. When the test results come, the relatives of the positive patients are informed that they being shifted to the COVID ward from the suspected ward. Similarly, when someone's test results come negative, the routine process is to call up the family and tell them that they are being shifted to the general ward.”
She added, “Within 15 minutes, the person in the control room also realised that there was something wrong. So he immediately checked up and then called up the family to apologise for the confusion.”
This is not the first incident where the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital has been criticised for negligence. On 18 May, a COVID-19 positive patient’s body was found at the BRTS bus stand, hours after he was released from the Civil hospital.
On 24 April, around 25 coronavirus patients had to spend six hours on the streets after they were denied admission to the hospital. The authorities had sprung into action only after one of the patients recorded a video and shared it on social media.
On 22 May, a division bench of Gujarat High Court compared the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital to a dungeon. The bench was changed the following day.
(The story has been updated with the Principal Health Secretary’s quote)
