HYDERABAD: A doctor drove a Covid-19 patient’s body in a tractor to a crematorium to help complete the last rites after the driver backed out.
Soon after a 45-year-old man died from Covid-19 at the local government hospital in Peddapalli on Sunday, the municipal workers provided a tractor to carry the body as the small facility does not have an ambulance or a mortuary. But the tractor driver flatly refused to drive, fearing he too would contract the virus even though he was assured that all Covid-19 protocols were followed in terms of covering the body, while the aid workers and family members were in PPEs.
When Dr Pendyala Sriram, the district surveillance officer for novel coronavirus, heard about the incident, he tried to resolve the crisis but the driver refused to budge.
That is when Dr Sriram decided to drive the tractor to the cremation site about 2 km away. “What I did was part of my duty,” Dr Sriram told TOI.
109 Covid-19 cases and nine deaths in Peddapalli district
“It was already six hours since the patient had died. The family was getting restive. The staff too was not comfortable seeing a body still lying there. Since I am the district surveillance officer, it is my duty to ensure that the last rites of victims are performed with dignity and following Covid norms,” he said.
The patient had tested positive on June 10 and was in home isolation. As his condition worsened with comorbidities, he was rushed to the hospital on July 12, but succumbed. Peddapalli has seen 109 coronavirus cases and nine persons from the district have succumbed to the virus so far.
“The collector has supplied us enough PPE kits and also body bags. Since we had the protection gear, we used them,” he said. Though it was not easy driving the tractor, Dr Sriram said: “I am a weekend farmer, so I know how to work hard.”
His 75-year-old father Pendyala Sambashiva Rao retired as OSD in the horticulture department.
“His motto was that the work should get done. It does not matter who does it,” Dr Sriram said, giving credit to his father for his actions.
Finance minister T Harish Rao also tweeted in praise of Dr Sriram.
Soon after a 45-year-old man died from Covid-19 at the local government hospital in Peddapalli on Sunday, the municipal workers provided a tractor to carry the body as the small facility does not have an ambulance or a mortuary. But the tractor driver flatly refused to drive, fearing he too would contract the virus even though he was assured that all Covid-19 protocols were followed in terms of covering the body, while the aid workers and family members were in PPEs.
When Dr Pendyala Sriram, the district surveillance officer for novel coronavirus, heard about the incident, he tried to resolve the crisis but the driver refused to budge.
That is when Dr Sriram decided to drive the tractor to the cremation site about 2 km away. “What I did was part of my duty,” Dr Sriram told TOI.
109 Covid-19 cases and nine deaths in Peddapalli district
“It was already six hours since the patient had died. The family was getting restive. The staff too was not comfortable seeing a body still lying there. Since I am the district surveillance officer, it is my duty to ensure that the last rites of victims are performed with dignity and following Covid norms,” he said.
The patient had tested positive on June 10 and was in home isolation. As his condition worsened with comorbidities, he was rushed to the hospital on July 12, but succumbed. Peddapalli has seen 109 coronavirus cases and nine persons from the district have succumbed to the virus so far.
“The collector has supplied us enough PPE kits and also body bags. Since we had the protection gear, we used them,” he said. Though it was not easy driving the tractor, Dr Sriram said: “I am a weekend farmer, so I know how to work hard.”
His 75-year-old father Pendyala Sambashiva Rao retired as OSD in the horticulture department.
“His motto was that the work should get done. It does not matter who does it,” Dr Sriram said, giving credit to his father for his actions.
Finance minister T Harish Rao also tweeted in praise of Dr Sriram.
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