The relatives of a 60-year-old COVID-19 patient who died in Udupi district were in shock when the authorities concerned sent the body of another deceased to the crematorium on Sunday.
Enraged over the faux pas, they staged a snap protest at the crematorium in Kundapur.
The 60-year-old man from Nerambally near Koteshwara had been admitted to a hospital in Kundapur following back pain. After he was found positive for COVID-19 on July 30, he was shifted to the district COVID-19 hospital in Udupi where he died on Sunday.
After informing the family members about the death, Health Department personnel brought the body to the crematorium as suggested by the family members. Five family members, who wore PPE, were allowed to see the body. Then, the family members were shocked to see the body of a 25-year-old man.
A team of officials, including Assistant Commissioner, Kundapur sub-division, Raju K. and Taluk Health Officer Nagabhushan Udupa, visited the crematorium soon after the video clip of the incident went viral on the social media. Later, the body of the 60-year-old man was brought to the crematorium and the last rites were performed.
Admitting that there was a faux pas committed by those handling bodies, Udupi District Nodal Officer for COVID-19 Prashanth Bhat blamed it on the extreme stress the personnel were in due to the long working hours for the last couple of days.
In a statement, Udupi Deputy Commissioner G. Jagadeesha said that the incident happened due to a “mistake by a driver”. Instead of taking the body of the youth to Karkala, he brought it to Kundapur. The district team in-charge of overseeing the last rites of COVID-19 patients should take care that such incidents did not happen again, he said.