Imagine suddenly one day you get a call, informing you that you have tested positive for COVID-19, when you have not undergone any test for the virus. This is exactly what happened to an elderly couple --residents of Matunga-- and their family who were in for a shock on Monday, after their son received a call from the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) F north ward office.
After inquiring with several officials and the BMC ward office, the family was told that the contact number of the senior citizens figured in the ICMR list of patients who had tested positive. However, later in the day, they were informed that there was a confusion and the civic body mistook them for another couple with identical names and had erroneously added their names on the list of COVID-19 positive patients of the ward.
On July 20, the family reportedly received a call from a woman, claiming to be calling from the BMC F north ward office. She informed that the two senior citizens, residents of Dr BR Ambedkar Road, Matunga, aged 71 and 64, had tested positive for coronavirus.
“On Monday afternoon, I got a call from an unknown number. I missed that call. When I called back on that number, a woman identified herself to be calling from BMC F north ward office. She informed me that my parents’ COVID-19 test results had come out positive. I was shocked and paused for a moment and informed her that my parents never underwent any test,” the son of the elderly couple said.
He added, “My mother is a cancer survivor and both my parents are above 60 years of age and have comorbidities. Hence they have not gone out for the last four months, nor has anybody visited us. They did not step out even once since lockdown was declared. They haven't downloaded any app on their mobile, nor were they screened for oxygen level or comorbidities. I tried to explain that there must be some mistake in their data, but the woman told us that the list was provided by senior officials and their names figured in the ICMR list."
It was a mystery to the family as to how the names of the couple reached the ICMR list. However, more than that it was a mystery how their mobile number reached the local ward office.
The family reached out to the officials from F North ward (Matunga, Wadala and Sion). “The officials kept insisting that the list has come out via ICMR and they need to abide by that. It was only after we pointed out that there were COVID-19 patients in another wing of the building and the officials should verify that. After some time, we were told that there was some confusion and they immediately removed my parents’ name from the list. There has been no communication after that,” the son said.
When approached, Gajanan Bellale, assistant municipal commissioner of F North, said, "We are verifying what went wrong, who called the couple. For now, the case has been resolved. There was some confusion in the names and the list had been rectified now. Some other patients had identical names, because of which the confusion occurred. However, our medical officer of health has informed us that we have found the right patient and they are admitted in our COVID-19 Care Facility. We are still investigating about the caller and what led to the confusion.”
