Doctor on COVID duty succumbs

A 36-year-old government doctor, who reportedly contracted coronavirus at the altar of duty while heading the Manuguru-based quarantine centre, succumbed after battling the virus for a week at a hospital in Hyderabad in the small hours of Friday.

Dr. Gubbala Naresh Kumar handled multiple duties as the Deputy District Medical and Health Officer (Dy. DM&HO) and the District Immunisation Officer, and above all was a frontline warrior.

The sudden death of the young doctor, who hailed from Bhadrachalam, came as a terrible shock to the members of the medical fraternity and others.

Dr. Naresh had lost his life while trying to save coronavirus patients as a warrior, leaving behind his wife and two daughters, aged 9 and 7 years. He nurtured an ambition of becoming a pulmonologist to serve the needy in his native predominantly tribal populated district. But his tragic death aborted his plans, bringing a promising career to an abrupt end.

Collector M.V. Reddy expressed his profound grief over the sudden death. He termed Dr. Naresh a ‘COVID warrior’, who tirelessly offered his services to the needy with utmost care and diligence. His valuable services as a doctor in the tribal areas earned the Central government’s ‘Kayakalp’ award for the Parnashala and Sujathanagar PHCs, where he had served earlier.

He had recently secured a seat in PG medical course (pulmonology) in Osmania Medical College and tragedy struck him at a time when he was about to go for higher studies, Mr. Reddy said. The district has lost a young doctor with a promising career, the Collector said.