E-Paper
PMC cremates 2-month-old Covid-19 victim after parents do not show up at hospital to claim body
Hospital authorities say the victim’s parents claim they were in quarantine.
PUNE The Pune municipal corporation (PMC), on Sunday, cremated the remains of a two-month-old male child who died, and was Covid-19-positive, after the child’s parents did not come to the hospital to claim the body.
Dr Kalpana Baliwant, PMC assistant health officer, said, “We were informed by the hospital that the relatives refused to claim the body because they too were in quarantine. I cannot say for sure, but this is probably the second such case in the city. The process to claim the body is also very formal, since we do not practically hand over the body. It is for relatives to identify the body to avoid any mismatching, and to ensure the civic body informs the relatives about the death. The body is not handed over till the cremation. Unclaimed bodies are cremated after a proper no-objection certificate (NoC) from the nearest police station.”
Dr Poonam Deshmukh, assistant medical administrator, King Edward Memorial (KEM) hospital, where the child passed away, coordinated with the family of the deceased. She said: “Initially when we contacted the parents they said that they are in quarantine and could not come, but when we specifically if the parents had tested positive, they confirmed that the mother and father of the child had not tested positive. The father’s exact words were, ‘If we will not be handed over the body immediately, then what is the use of us coming all the way?’ So we had to inform the PMC about the same and the corpse was cremated with a heavy heart.”
The two-month-old child is the city’s youngest Covid-19-related fatality and KEM hospital has issued a statement stating that all concerned authorities were informed of the death on time.
The baby, who was admitted on June 3 tested positive for the infection on June 4, and was declared dead on June 7. The death, however, was reported by the PMC on Saturday, June 13.
This delay has raised the question about miscommunication between hospital and civic authorities, and therefore, the parents.
Dr V Yemul, medical administrator, KEM Pune, said, “We have all the records to show that this death had been informed to the relevant authorities, primary among them being the PMC, on the very same day via multiple channels. Placing the blame on hospitals without any attempt to corroborate facts is only causing panic amongst patients and their relatives and portraying hospitals that are working round the clock during this pandemic in a very poor light. This must now stop.”
KEM hospital stated: “The child was found to have an anterior mediastinal haemangioma compressing the trachea and other vessels. During the course of treatment by a team of doctors from the hospital, including a paediatric surgeon, clinical haematologist and paediatric intensivist, a swab was taken and the baby tested positive for Covid-19 on June 4 2020. The baby unfortunately died on Sunday June 7 at 5.10pm. Our administration immediately started the relevant procedures.
The hospital statement adds, “We contacted the PMC officers with this information for their guidance for further procedures which includes the death pass, handing over the deceased to the PMC ambulance and cremation; following which, they told us that an NoC would be required from the police station.”
“We immediately contacted the concerned police station who promptly gave us the NoC within an hour- and-a-half. Meanwhile, the mandatory procedure of filling of forms was done,” the hospital claimed.
