The body of a coronavirus patient's body was left on the pavement of a private hospital's premises in Bhopal on Monday night. A video doing the rounds on social media shows two ambulance workers clad in PPE suits taking out the body of a man on a stretcher and leaving it on the pavement before driving away. 

Revealed to be a power distribution employee, the patient was admitted two weeks back with a kidney condition after which his health deteriorated when he started experiencing breathing problems and was suspected to be affected with pneumonia. A COVID-19 test was conducted on the patient on Monday morning and his results showed he had tested positive. 

Initially, the patient was undergoing treatment at the People's Hospital, but was later decided to be shifted to Bhopal's main COVID-19 centre, the Chirayu Hospital, after he tested positive. Reports mention the patient's son stating that samples of his father were collected on Sunday with the results coming out positive on Monday. It is said he was admitted to the People's Hospital on June 23 and had been unwell since January. 

The patient's son also has said that his father was alive when he was being taken from the People's Hospital to Chirayu Medical College on Monday morning and has questioned the motive behind the vehicle returning. The son has reportedly questioned the district administration as to why they had to shift the patient's body if the plan was to dump the body on the road. He goes on to say that the hospitals are at fault and that family members were not informed. 

Udhay Shankar Dixit, People's Hospital Manager, in a statement said they were following the instructions as per the protocol and IDSP (Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme) and an ambulance from Chirayu Medical College had arrived. However, after around an hour-forty minutes, they were informed that the ambulance was returning back. The hospital, by then, had apparently sealed the ICU and began fumigation, and the ambulance had come back as the process was still ongoing. 

According to reports, the ambulance staff, waiting with the body, did not get a stretcher when they asked the hospital. Mr. Dixit, in his statement said, the ambulance staff abandoned the patient's body on the road outside the hospital after which he informed his hospital staff to wear a PPE kit and take a stretcher to revive him, but was found to be not breathing by then. 

Ajay Goenka, Director of Chirayu Hospital, spoke about the issue saying People's Hospital's doctors had called them requesting an ambulance and said they had a patient who had kidney failure and was on dialysis while also suffering from heart diseases. He added the hospital had informed them saying the patient's condition was stable. He stated that an ambulance with oxygen support was then sent and the driver picked up the patient. Upon reaching the VIP Road, the driver felt the patient's condition had begun to worsen and became critical. The driver had noticed that there was considerable traffic and getting the patient to Chirayu Hospital would take around 45 minutes and had chosen to turn back midway after consulting with the doctors at the People's Hospital.

Mr Goenka stated that the doctors and staff at the People's Hospital had tried conducting CPR and other interventions on the patient. He adds saying their ventilator-equipped ambulance reached the location around 20-25 minutes later. However, the patient had collapsed by then after which he was taken to the mortuary as there was no pulse. He questions the authorities at People's Hospital about the need to create a fuss about the ambulance driver coming back. 

Meanwhile, Avinash Lavania, Bhopal Collector, has demanded an explanation from People's Hospital into the unfortunate demise of the elderly COVID-19 patient. He has reportedly questioned authorities at People's Hospital as to how they can refer a patient to another medical facility without his condition being stabilized. He further asked the protocols followed so that the patient would not get infected with coronavirus as he had been admitted there since June 23. He is said to have questioned as to how a person admitted in a hospital for more than a week can become COVID-19 positive as his symptoms would have been shown had his health condition turned bad then. 

Watch the video below of the coronavirus patient's body being left outside on the hospital's parking lot: