A body of a person suspected to be COVID-19 positive was lying for over three hours at a bus shelter despite the adjacent Ranebennur Taluk Hospital authorities having knowledge about his death. The incident occurred in Karnataka’s Haveri district on Saturday.
According to the Times Of India report, the 45-year-old was a resident of Maruti Nagar and was suffering from fever for over a week, following which he went to Ranebennur Taluk hospital for treatment.
His swabs were sent for coronavirus testing on June 28 and had come to the hospital to collect his report around 11 am on Saturday. As his results were yet to come he went to the bus shelter to take rest.
But after some time, he was found dead in the shelter itself. When the hospital authorities were informed about it, they wrapped the body in a PPE kit and left it there in front of the public instead of taking it to the mortuary.
The hospital authorities faced a massive public outrage after the images went viral on social media. The staff went back to the bus shelter after three hours and took the body in an ambulance to perform the deceased’s last rites.
Reporting on the matter, District Health Officer Rajendra Doddamani told the media that the incident has been reported to the police, however it is still not clear as to why the medical staff left the body in the shelter after wrapping it.
An inquiry into the matter has been initiated, and the district administration will be taking a stern action against the hospital, he added. Additional Deputy Commissioner S Yogishwar said that he was not aware of the incident earlier, but will now order for a thorough inquiry.
