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Odisha forest official dies of Covid-19, kin get test results after his death
The forest official was admitted to the ICU of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur town of the district on July 19 after his condition turned serious.
The result of the swab test of a forest official in Odisha’s Covid-19 hotspot of Ganjam district was revealed at least 24 hours after he died, his family members have alleged.
Basant Mohanty, a forest official from Bhanjanagar area of Ganjam gave his swab for a Covid-19 test on July 12, days after he started getting fever. While taking the swab, Mohanty was told that if he does not get any phone call on his registered number, then the test result can be deemed as negative.
The forest official was, however, admitted to the ICU of the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur town of the district on July 19 after his condition turned serious. He passed away on July 21 at the hospital and was cremated on July 22 in the presence of family friends.
On July 23 evening, Mohanty’s near and dear were however shocked when they received a call on his mobile to keep him ready as he had tested positive for Covid-19. “I thought someone was playing a prank on us. My father had passed away 2 days ago and we were getting calls to shift him to a Covid-19 hospital. I told the official at the other end about his death,” said his son Diganta Mohanty.
The deceased forest official’s son said the callousness of the government was shocking. “If the government is claiming that it provides the swab test results in 3 days, why did they take 11 days in case of my father? Is this some kind of a joke,” he asked. “After my father was admitted to ICU, several family members visited him. After he died, at least 20 people in our locality had come. All of us now have been quarantined.”
Bhanjanagar tehsildar Alok Pradhan said normally the swab test results are available within 3 days of collection of samples. “But in Mohanty’s case, we got it on 21st night. I don’t know why there was so much delay,” Pradhan said.
Two days ago, an additional district magistrate of a Covid-19 hotspot district had passed away before his swab test results returned positive. The initial swab test reports of Gajapati ADM Karunakar Raika had come negative in antigen and Truenat tests, but the RT-PCR test of his swab after his death came positive.
Ganjam on Friday reported a record 732 cases taking the total to 7,634 cases in the district. Incidentally, all the 732 cases reported today were outside quarantine centres.
