Video shows bodies of COVID-19 victims kept near patients
Mumbai, May 7 () A video showing bodies of COVID-19victims lying unattended near patients undergoing treatmentfor the virus infection at the civic-run Sion hospital herewent viral on Thursday.
Announcing a probe, Dr Pramod Ingle, dean of theLokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion area, saidthe reluctance of relatives to collect bodies led to thissituation.
A statement issued by the Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) in the evening quoted him as saying that aprobe will be conducted into the genuineness of the video.
Earlier, the Dean said relatives of coronavirusvictims are often reluctant to take possession of bodies, and"that is the reason why the bodies were kept there unattended.
"We have now removed the bodies and are probing thematter," he said.
Asked why the bodies were not shifted to the mortuary,Dr Ingle said, "There are 15 slots in the hospital's mortuaryof which 11 were already filled."
If all the bodies were shifted to the mortuary, therewould be no space for storing bodies of those who die ofcauses other than coronavirus infection, he added.
As of Wednesday, Mumbai had reported 10,527 COVID-19cases and 412 deaths.
In a statement issued in the evening by the BMC, DrIngle said the civic body has formed a committee to verify the"genuineness and facts" of the video. It will submit a reportwithin 24 hours and an action will be taken against thosefound responsible, the statement said.
The BMC had directed, as per the state government'sguidelines, that bodies of COVID-19 victims be handed overto the relatives within 30 minutes, the dean said.
But many times relatives are unavailable to take thebody and sometimes they do not turn up despite repeated calls,Dr Ingle said.
Strict institutions were given to avoid the recurrenceof such incidents, he added.
The opposition BJP slammed the Shiv Sena-ruled BMCover the video.
"The Sion hospital has shown utmost negligence byletting COVID-19 patients sleep among the bodies of those whodied of the same disease," tweeted BJP MLA Nitesh Rane.
Noting that the hospital mostly gets patients fromDharavi, the biggest slum in the country, he asked "is thishow we treat our working class?" Such carelessness couldresult in further spread of coronavirus infection, he added. ND KK GKKRK KRK