Video of bodies in Covid test ward viral; hospital says not of positive patients

People who came for Covid-19 tests at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, Thane, complained of bodies, wrapped in plastic, being kept at the ward

People who came for Covid-19 tests at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, Thane, complained of bodies, wrapped in plastic, being kept at the ward where swab tests are being conducted.

A screen grab from the video.

A video showing the bodies also went viral on social media. This led to panic among people who came for the tests.

The hospital authorities, however, stated that they were unidentified and unclaimed bodies and not of Covid-19 patients.

The hospital is divided into an isolation ward for Covid-suspected cases and non-Covid wards. One of its wards is also allotted to conduct swab tests of suspected patients.

A person who came for the test said, “When we went to get the test done, there were two bodies wrapped in a plastic bag lying at one corner of the ward. One body was in a blue coloured plastic bag on a stretcher, while another was wrapped in a white cloth and was lying on the floor. There is a certain protocol to be followed and hospitals cannot keep the bodies lying around.”

The suspected patient claimed that there have been incidents of people testing positive after death.

A medical officer from the hospital said, “These bodies are not of Covid patients, they are merely unidentified and unclaimed bodies. They were properly wrapped and there is no fear of infection from them. They were kept there for a brief time till there was space available in the morgue.”