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As Covid fatalities mount in HP, hospitals struggle to tackle bodies
On Thursday, as many as 11 patients died due to the infection, but their bodies lay unattended in the wards for several hours as no staffer was available to pick them up
Even as Himachal Pradesh continues to witness a surge in Covid-19 deaths and cases, the state’s premier medical institute, Indira Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (IGMCH), is struggling to manage the influx of dead bodies rendering them unattended in the isolation wards for hours.
On Thursday, as many as 11 patients died due to the infection, but their bodies lay unattended in the wards for several hours as no staffer was available to pick them up. The staff assigned the job were allegedly found drunk on duty.
“My mother succumbed to the virus on Friday night. I got the body on Saturday afternoon,” said Arun Kumar from Jakhorh village in Shimla’s Jubbal tehsil.
What has added to the problem is the space crunch at the hospital morgue, which is full to capacity nearly everyday. The IGMCH morgue, which can accommodate 10 bodies, is being used for both Covid and other victims.
The hospital management has admitted to the delay caused in the lifting of bodies from the isolation wards.
“The death toll mounted suddenly on Thursday and our mortuary got fully occupied. The bodies were awaiting cremation at the grounds too,” said IGMCH medical superintendent Dr Janak Raj.
“There was some delay in picking up of the bodies due to negligence on the behalf of staff members who were assigned the task. We then sent other staff to do the same. Strict action will be taken against the erring employees for dereliction in duty,” he said.
The sudden rush of bodies of Covid victims has left the cremation facilities struggling to keep up the pace. Kanlog Crematorium in Shimla, which has only six platforms, is being used for both Covid and non-covid victims. The non-covid bodies are cremated before 10am while the virus victims are consigned to flames thereafter.
“Bodies have started piling up at the hospital and only six out of 11 Covid victims could be cremated on Friday. Most of the dead are from outside Shimla and their family members are stunned because of the delay in cremations. It’s high time that the government took corrective measures,” said former Shimla mayor and senior CPI (M) leader Sanjay Chauhan, while he insisted upon constructing a temporary crematorium opposite the Kanlog.
“Cremation starts around noon and it is not possible to cremate more than four to five bodies by the evening. If a non-covid body is brought for cremation, it takes at least two to three hours more as the covid body has to be kept outside the crematorium in this duration,” said Sanjay Sood, head of Sood Sabha, which manages the Kanlog crematorium.
When reached, the chief minister’s office said they have raised the matter with the urban development department. “We have spoken to the urban development department to construct a temporary crematorium in Sanjauli which will be dedicated to Covid bodies,” said chief minister’s private principal secretary RN Batta.
