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Desperate to meet son, Covid patient flees isolation ward, brought back
The man, who along with his 32-year-old wife and a 5-year-old son had recently returned from Hazur Sahib in Nanded district of Maharashtra, was caught by the police outside the civil hospital and brought back to the isolation ward
A high drama was witnessed at Tarn Taran civil hospital on Saturday when a 34-year-old coronavirus patient fled the isolation ward sending the authorities and the policemen present there into a tizzy.
The man, who along with his 32-year-old wife and a 5-year-old son had recently returned from Hazur Sahib in Nanded district of Maharashtra, was caught by the police outside the civil hospital and brought back to the isolation ward.
He was admitted to the ward on April 3 after he tested positive for Covid-19. However, his wife and son tested negative. The family had returned from Nanded on March 28 and had been kept in Mai Bhago College, which has been converted into a quarantine centre.
“My wife and son have been quarantined even as they tested negative. My wife informed me over phone that our son’s condition is not well and he has been crying for the past two days. I wanted to meet my son. My wife and son should be allowed to go home?” said the man, who hails from Thakarpura village of Patti subdivision in the district, while talking to HT over phone.
The incident took place at around 1 pm, according to the hospital authorities. He was caught by two cops on the Amritsar-Tarn Taran road outside the hospital. After 30-minute persuasion by health officials, the man agreed to go back to the isolation ward.
Tarn Taran civil surgeon Dr Anoop Kumar said the man managed to flee the hospital by dodging the security men and the health staff deployed in and outside the isolation ward.
Senior medical officer (SMO) of the hospital Dr Inder Mohan Gupta said, “If even a single person under observation goes out, it’s a public hazard.” The health authorities will have to identify and isolate people who came in contact with the patient after he left the hospital.
