Maharashtra: Covid patient leaps out of hospital building in Palghar, sustains head injuries

MUMBAI: A 38-year-old Covid-19 patient attempted suicide by jumping from the third-floor of a hospital where he was admitted in Vikramgad on Sunday.
The patient, a resident of Jambivli, Bhiwandi, sustained serious head injuries and is being treated at Nair hospital in Mumbai.
On Sunday morning, the patient left his bed at the Revere hospital, Vikramgad, to go to the toilet. He instead walked to the terrace on the third floor and leaped. He landed on the ground with serious head injuries. He was noticed by a hospital staff who informed officials. They stabilised him in the hospital and later shifted him to Nair hospital. He was detected with Covid a week ago and was admitted to the Poscher Covid care centre in Wada. On Saturday, he was shifted to the 200-bed dedicated Covid hospital in Vikramgad.
Vikramgad police registered an accidental case.
In May, a 45-year-old Covid patient leaped out of the hospital window in Nalasopara. He landed on a heap of sand and sustained fracture to a leg. His second swab report was awaited and he feared that the virus would take his life.
Dr Ajay Sankhe, heading the Covid hospital in Bhayander and director of the Bhaktivedanta hospital in Mira Road said that Covid patients need maximum counselling and assurance that they can defeat the virus. He said that Covid hospitals should have a dedicated counselling cell. He said that doctors and health workers in their individual capacity do try to counsel patients but they need a lot of encouragement.