Vizag: A 15-month old child succumbed to COVID-19 on Tuesday evening after waiting for a long time to get admitted in a hospital in Andhra Pradesh.
The baby was taken to the King George hospital, Vishakhapatnam’s biggest, and the parents of the child alleged that inordinate delay in hospital admission led to the death.
According to the child’s father, I Veera Babu, a native of Chodipalli village in Atchutapuram mandal, the child developed fever and cold four days ago. She was taken to a private hospital in Anakapalle where she tested negative for Covid-19 on a rapid antigen test. However, when the fever did not subside even after three days of treatment, doctors prescribed an RT-PCR test.
In several videos that ae being shared online, the infant’s father was seen pumping oxygen using an ambu-bag while her mother wept helplessly.
“Please save my child, someone please save my child. They left her on the road. Is this why you became doctors? I went from hospital to hospital to save her but they have left her on the road,” her mother pleaded.
“They ask us to dial 104 but no one answers”.
After her death, angry relatives rushed into the hospital and fought with the staff, accusing them of callousness.
As per media reports, KGH authorities claimed that the baby reached the hospital in a critical condition in an ambulance at 3.40 pm. “The baby was shifted to triaging at around 4 pm and a general physician and pediatrician attended the baby. But the baby expired after resuscitation at about 5:10 pm due to viral pneumonia, i.e. Covid-19,” said a KGH official.
The KGH superintendent issued a press release in the evening denying allegations of negligence.