Gujarat has been severely criticised in the media for the handling of COVID-19. And in another such case of just awful negligence, the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital gave the impression to a patient’s family that he had passed away, while he was still alive. 

The Economic Times

But that’s just the peak of the iceberg. The patient’s (Devrambhai Bhisikar) kin were handed the corpse of another Covid-19 patient, India Today reported. 

Due to the precautionary measures prescribed by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the family did not unseal the body bag and cremated it without confirming the identity of the deceased.

Wall Street Journal

It was only after they had cremated the body handed over to them that the family was told that Dharambhai was responding to the treatment being given to him for Covid-19. 

Family members were informed of his demise on the afternoon of 29 May. A day later on 30 May they received a call from the Ahmedabad civil hospital, informing them of improvement in Devrambhai’s health.

E health

Devrambhai’s relative Nileshbhai told reporters that the family was still confused In fact, when the family contacted the hospital on 30th May after receiving the phone call, they were told that the call made to them could have been a mistake and Dharambhai had indeed passed away the day before.