A moving scene was witnessed near the primary health centre (PHC) at Renjal in Nizamabad district on Sunday morning when a 28-year-old autorickshaw driver died even as he burned up with fever and sat leaning against a tree.
Minutes earlier, Ashok Batri had got himself tested for COVID-19 at the PHC and was waiting for the reports as he rested by a tree. The result, which turned up negative, came out just as he passed away.
PHC medical officer Christina Renjal said she did not expect Ashok to suffer a heart attack as he was very young, but added that the exact reason would have been known if the family members volunteered for a post-mortem examination. However, they took the body back to their village and buried him. Dr. Renjal said Ashok was too tense about his health which may have had an adverse impact.
Ashok was said to be running a temperature of 103 degrees C, and was scared of having contracted COVID. He rushed to the PHC with his mother Gangamani, a sanitation worker, and brother Gangadhar in an autorickshaw from their village Borgaon. He had been suffering from fever for a week.
On arrival, the PHC staff conducted a rapid antigen test for COVID which turned out to be negative.
Not satisfied with the result, he exerted pressure on the staff to test him a second time and they obliged, using the same technique. They asked him to wait for the result outside while he faced a silent death.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed as Gangamani held her dead son and pleaded him to come back to life, so that they could return home together.