After a major goof-up, where the dead body of a Covid-19 patient was cremated by the wrong family after a mix-up by the hospital, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) commissioner Dr. Vipin Sharma has shunted out the dean, Yogesh Sharma and four nurses from their jobs at Global Hub Covid Hospital and has appointed Deputy Municipal Commissioner Vishwanath Kelkar as the nodal officer.
According to Sharma, at time of handing over bodies of Covid patients to their kin, the hospital should follow the guidelines laid down by ICMR such as photograph, documentary identity and identification of the body by family members. Moreover, the dead bodies face should be covered by a transparent plastic.
Sharma further stated that there is no paramedical staff crunch and that the hospitals are adequately staffed. We appeal to the citizens there must use mask and maintain social distancing at all times.
Sharma added that despite the rising number of coronavirus positive cases, we are not a failure. The positive cases have risen as we have increased testing in all the areas.
The incident:
On July 3, a family from Kopri in Thane was informed by the Global Hub Covid Hospital that their 67-year-old relative had died of coronavirus and a body was handed over to them in a sealed bag as per Covid-19 protocols, following which the cremation was organised.
However, on July 5, another family reached the hospital in search of their 72-year-old relative who was admitted for Covid -19 treatment there on June 29.
After investigation, it was revealed that the 72-year-old had died and his body was handed over to the wrong family which cremated the man, officials said. The family's actual relative was, however, alive and still in the hospital.
The family members said that they were shocked when they got a call from the newly inaugurated 1,000-bed hospital on Monday, saying that their relative was alive and was being treated in the ICU.
"A probe by a civic team found that the relatives of this family in Kopri was alive and under treatment at a COVID facility. The hospital has said the goof-up was a result of case papers of the two patients getting mixed up," an official said.
The family's joy, however, was short-lived when their relative also died of the infection late on Tuesday night, a senior civic official said.
