As Gujarat added another 13,804 new cases and 142 deaths on Friday, among those who succumbed were veteran photojournalist Shailesh Raval and younger brother of former Gujarat Chief Minister and veteran leader Shankersinh Vaghela.
Vaghela’s younger brother and his wife succumbed to Covid-19 in a gap of three days — Kanusinh Vaghela (65) died on April 20, while his wife Geetaba Vaghela (63) died on April 17.
“While Kanubhai was admitted to Ashka Hospital in Gandhinagar, Geetaba was in Sterling Hospital Gurukul in Ahmedabad,” said a representative of Vaghela’s office.
Vaghela took to Twitter and wrote, “I convey my regards to all those who had sent me messages of solidarity through phone calls, messages and tweets regarding the unfortunate demise of my younger brother and his wife. Thank you for being with us in this moment of grief. Please stay safe and healthy (sic).”
Raval, who worked with India Today’s Gujarat bureau tested positive for Covid-19 three days ago and was in home isolation, reported a drop in oxygen saturation level on Friday morning. According to family members, calls were made through contacts and a bed was found available at UN Mehta Institute of Cardiology and Research Centre (UNMICRC).
According to nodal officer and cardiologist at UNMICRC Dr Dinesh Joshi, “I received a call at around 10 am saying the patient’s oxygen level had dropped to less than 60… I informed them that they can get admitted here. However, they eventually did not come. I was told they went to the 1,200-bed Civil Hospital facility.”
The standard protocol involves all 108 ambulance patients to be first taken to the 1,200-bed facility first from where patients are sent to a bed either in the same facility or one of the four other facilities in the Medicity campus, which are designated for Covid-19 treatment.