Guntur locals not ready to perform funerals of coronavirus victims

GUNTUR: Despite sufficient availability of safety kits in Covid-19 hospitals, the health staff and workers are still facing difficulty in conducting funeral of patients who died of coronavirus. Recently, after two Covid-19 patients died in Guntur city, people living in the vicinity of a burial ground objected to one of the funerals.

According to information, the district currently has 8,150 PPE kits, 3,800 N-95 masks, 66,700 surgical masks, 3,96,800 disposable gloves, 2,04,200 examination gloves, 9,439 disposable bed sheets and 6,888 hand sanitisers.

As many as 400 non-ICU beds and 23 beds with ventilators are also available in the district. Further, arrangements are being made to include 1,000 more non-ICU beds.

However, the health staff, who feared people’s resentment, said theirs was a complicated job as they had to make sure that the virus did not spread from an infectee to a healthy person. They were ready to attend duties at hospitals, but not for performing funerals. On insistence of higher authorities, they, however, performed two cremations—one on April 10 and the other two days later.

One of the two patients who died was a 45-year-old collection agent from Narasaraopet, who succumbed at the Guntur Fever Hospital on April 10. He was taken to the Koritapadu burial ground where he was cremated. The son of another deceased asked the staff to bury his father. To this, those residing in and around Koritapadu denied permission expressing fear that it might lead to spreading of coronavirus in the locality. Later, the son agreed for the cremation.  The body was taken to Stambhalagaruvu and cremated with the permission of the locals.

Fever Hospital regional medical officer Dr Sunanda said they have sufficient stocks of safety kits and the GMC was proactively taking up disinfection measures.

Patient’s Son agrees for cremation
One of the two patients who died was a 45-year-old collection agent from Narasaraopet, who succumbed at the Guntur Fever Hospital on April 10. He was taken to the Koritapadu burial ground where he was cremated. The son of another deceased asked the staff to bury his father. To this, people residing in and around Koritapadu denied permission, expressing fear that it might lead to spreading of the coronavirus in the locality