Coronavirus: One more patient from TN dies in Puducherry

PUDUCHERRY: A man from Tamil Nadu, who died in Indira Gandhi Government General Hospital in Puducherry on Monday, tested positive for Covid-19.
Director of health and family welfare S Mohankumar said the 82-year-old man from Villupuram district in Tamil Nadu was admitted to hospital on June 4 with multiple ailments including diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clots in the brain and cardiac complaints. The man furnished a temporary residential address at Arumparthapuram in Puducherry. He died on Monday despite medical attention.
The swab samples taken after his death tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday following which the territorial officials made necessary arrangements to follow all the protocols for managing and disposing of the body.
Health minister Malladi Krishna Rao inspected the hospital on Wednesday morning and reviewed the preparedness of the staff members in dignified management of the Covid body. Rao reviewed the availability of impermeable bags to properly pack the Covid bodies, personal protective equipment and other necessary kits for the workers handling the Covid bodies to protect them from the infection before handling the body bags to the local administration department (LAD).
Mohankumar said the family members of the deceased man decided not to receive his body and requested the government to perform the last rites. The hospital staff members and LAD workers handed over the body to the volunteers from Popular Front of India after following all protocols. The NGO volunteers cremated the body in an electric crematorium at Karuvadikuppam. The octogenarian's death was included in Puducherry's account.
A 44-year-old man from Chennai, who died on Saturday, tested positive for Covid-19 infection. The undignified burial of his body by LAD and healthcare workers sparked an outrage.
Meanwhile, 12 more people tested positive for Covid-19 taking the total number of cases reported to 145 on Wednesday in the Union territory. Presently, there are 84 active cases.