Not informed of father's death due to Covid-19, alleges man; hospital denies

Kolkata, May 7 () Family members of an elderly manwho tested positive for Covid-19 and died last week in aKolkata hospital on Thursday alleged that they were notinformed of his demise even three days after his body wascremated by the local administration.

Authorities of the MR Bangur Hospital where he wasundergoing treatment, however, claimed that the familymembers, who were on institutional quarantine, have beeninformed.

A health department official said the matter would beinvestigated.

The septuagenarian from Keshab Chandra Sen Street incentral Kolkata was admitted to the male isolation ward of theMR Bangur Hospital on April 29 and he died on May 2. The bodywas cremated on the same day, sources in the hospital said.

The man's wife, two sons and a daughter-in-law weresent for quarantine in Rajarhat. Neither they nor his anotherson staying in Barrackpore were contacted by the hospitalafter his death, alleged his youngest son Arijit Sen.

"Since we are in the quarantine centre and could notgo to the hospital, we tried to keep in contact with thehospital via phone. The last time we managed to talk toanybody there was on May 1. Since then, there was not a singlecall from them," Sen told .

The call record in his phone can prove that none fromthe hospital contacted them, Sen said adding that he got thebad news from someone from an insurance company on May 5.

It was, however, not clear why the man from theinsurance company had called him up as his father did not haveany such policy, private or government, Sen said.

"The man had called up to enquire whether or not myfather had enrolled for any life insurance policy. He informedme that my father died on May 2," he said.

The family members then started calling the number ofthe ward master at the isolation ward for Covid-19 patients atthe MR Bangur hospital.

"After at least four to five calls, someone answeredit and said my father died around 4 PM on May 2 and his bodywas cremated by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) onthat very day," the man's eldest son Abhijit Sen, who stays inBarrackpore, told .

"This is absolutely inhuman. We know the protocol ofcremating a Covid-19 patient but at least the hospitalauthorities or the state health department could have informedus about my father's death. We have at least that right,"Arijit Sen said.

When contacted, MR Bangur Hospital superintendentSisir Naskar said he came to know about the familysallegation from a social media post.

"When I asked our nodal officer about it, he told methat he had informed them about the death. The state healthdepartment was also informed. The department, in turn, toldKMC officials who took the body for the last rites," Naskartold .

A senior official of the state health department saida proper enquiry will be initiated into the matter.

"This matter will definitely be looked into. Theremust have been some miscommunication," he said on condition ofanonymity.

Incidentally, two family members of the deceasedtested positive for the virus on Thursday and were shiftedfrom the quarantine centre to a hospital in Rajarhat.

Till Wednesday, West Bengal has recorded 72 deathsdirectly due to Covid-19 while another 72 succumbed because ofcomorbidity conditions, where coronavirus was incidental.

At the moment there are at least 1,047 active cases ofCovid-19 in the state. SCHNN NN