In a shocking incident, a COVID-19 positive patient died on Thursday while sitting out on a protest outside the municipal corporation in Nashik after allegedly being turned back by a number of hospitals.
As per a NDTV report, the deceased, Babasaheb Kole, 38, was seen on a 'dharna', wearing an oxygen mask connected to a cylinder, last evening (March 31) outside the civic body's headquarters.
After about an hour, an ambulance from the corporation took him to the municipal hospital. According to his family, at around midnight, his oxygen level went close to 40 percent. A normal level of oxygen is usually 95 percent or higher.
Babasaheb died around 1 am in the night.
His wife giving a statement to local journalists had said, "Two-three days back he was taken to Bytco (Hospital). From there, he went to another hospital, from there to the government medical college. Medical College said no bed. We went to a lot of hospitals. Nobody admitted him. Then we came back to civil (hospital) and got oxygen for him and put him on it. Nobody heard us."
The police and the corporation say they have launched an investigation to find out who "instigated" the patient to protest outside the municipal building.
Maharashtra is witnessing a fresh wave of coronavirus infections that have pulled down the state's health infrastructure in many places.
The state reported nearly 40,000 new coronavirus cases on March 31, its second-highest single-day rise in infection tally since the pandemic began, a health official said.
(To receive our E-paper on whatsapp daily, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
