Kolkata Shocker! Family Had To Keep COVID-19 Patient's Body In Freezer As Officials Didn't Act

In a shocking incident, a family in Kolkata was forced to keep the body of their kin who died of COVID-19 after authorities failed to act on time. The 71-year-old who suffered from breathing issues had died on Monday at his home on Raja Rammohan Roy Sarani in the central part of the city.

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The doctor he had visited on Monday had asked him to undergo coronavirus tests but his situation deteriorated after returning home and he died in the afternoon. Even though a doctor visited the man's apartment he refused to issue a death certificate saying that it was a COVID-19 case and advised the family members to contact the Amherst Street police station.

When the family contacted the police station they were asked to contact the local councillor. "But there too we did not receive any help and we were asked to get in touch with the state health department," a relative told PTI. "We even made several calls to the helpline given to us by a person when we called up the health department but nobody responded," another family member said.

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Unable to conduct the last rites, the desperate family members contacted a number of mortuaries but they too refused to keep the body after hearing of the circumstances of the man's death. The family members then managed to procure a freezer to preserve the body till the last rites.

"We made several calls to the local councillor and the state health department but no one helped us. Calls were not answered. That's why decided to keep his body at home inside a freezer," the family member said.

The test results on Tuesday night confirmed COVID-19. "In fact even after getting the test reports we kept on calling the state health department but there was no response. On Wednesday morning, we got calls from the health department and told them everything," he said. Within an hour, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) employees reached the apartment and took away the body for cremation, the family member said. "His body will be cremated as per the ICMR guidelines for COVID-19 deaths," a senior KMC official said.

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According to the recently issued guidelines the body should be packed in a double packing in a leak-proof zipped transparent plastic body bag, which is locked properly to avoid spillage of any fluids. In case of burial, upper surface should be cemented and earmarked. The body must be cremated in electric crematorium, wherever possible, so that the movement and handling of the body is minimised. Religious rituals, which require touching the bodies, should be avoided like bathing, kissing and hugging of the dead bodies, adding that the ash does not pose any risk and can be collected to perform the last rites.