Earth mover used in Andhra Pradesh, auto-rickshaw in Telangana used to carry Covid-19 victims' bodies for cremation

A day after three Covid-19 deaths occurred at the Nizamabad government hospital in Telangana in a single night allegedly because of oxygen supply disruption, one of the dead bodies was taken for cremation in an auto-rickshaw.

In neighboring Andhra Pradesh, the Jaganmohan Reddy government was slammed by the Opposition TDP, after three incidents of earth movers being used to carry Covid-19 victims' bodies were reported from Srikakulam, Chittoor and Nellore districts.

The burial or burning process of a Covid-19 victim’s body follows a strict protocol and is carried out by trained personnel in full PPE.

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Four deaths, including that of three Covid-19 patients, occurred at the hospital on Thursday night, allegedly because the emptying oxygen cylinder was not replaced.

However, hospital authorities refuted such reports and stated that the deaths of a 75-year-old female, and 58 and 50-year-old males occurred due to their co-morbid conditions like diabetes, hypertension.

One of the bodies was, on Saturday, taken to the cremation ground in an auto by the driver and a person sitting in the front seat.

Both of them were in plain clothes wearing only face masks.

“Two bodies were earlier taken in our ambulance. The auto belongs to the family of the dead person and unwilling to wait for the ambulance’s return, his relatives (driver, etc.) took away the body in the auto,” Dr Nageshwar Rao, Nizamabad government hospital superintendent told DH.

“The person accompanying is trained in Covid-19 dead body disposal but seems to have become careless after cremating several such bodies. This should not have happened. We have ordered an inquiry on the incident and the mortuary staff who allowed the body to be taken in an auto,” Dr Rao said.

“We have a centralized automated oxygen supply, which alerts if the levels are falling. And to supplement in contingency, we have regular cylinders available,” Dr Rao stated.

Meanwhile, Telangana Health Minister Etela Rajender has announced that the government would supply a Covid-19 kit for the positive patients in home isolation. Medicines, vitamin tablets, facemasks, sanitizers, hand wash, Covid-19 guidebooks, etc., would be in the bag.

Since last month, Telangana is advising and keeping positive patients with mild or no symptoms in home isolation.

As of Friday evening, Telangana has recorded a total of 32, 224 positive cases, with 339 deaths. The state has 12,680 active cases.