Hyderabad: The body of a Covid-19 victim was left unattended on the bed of Gandhi Hospital for nearly eight hours. The utter callousness by the authorities at the Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad came to light when some of the patients in the ward complained to their family members that the body of a Covid-19 victim had been lying on the bed since morning. They also complained that the entire ward was stinking.
Srinivas, a Covid patient of Hyderabad, was undergoing treatment at Gandhi Hospital. He died on Tuesday morning. But the hospital authorities delayed shifting of body to the morgue. As it remained on the bed till 8 pm the body putrefied and foul smell began emanating from it. Fearing infection other patients left the ward. The incident triggered protests from other patients undergoing treatment in the ward.
According to a relative of a Covid-19 patient, even after the inmates in the ward brought to the notice of the hospital authorities about the death of a patient in the morning, nobody bothered to shift the body. Unable to bear the stench emanating from the dead body, some of the patients moved out of the ward. The hospital authorities shifted the body to the morgue only after the other inmates raised a hue and cry over the matter.
However, Hospital Superintendent Raja Rao also admitted that there was some delay in shifting body but not eight hours. He said it was because employees were not available due to the ongoing strike by non-regular staff.
Gandhi Hospital is the designated government hospital for Covid-19.