After Maharashtra bypoll duty, teacher dies of Covid; his parents, aunt die in same week

A 52-year-old primary school teacher in Solapur district died of Covid, days after he returned home from his bye-election duty in the Pandharpur-Mangalvedha constituency. Pramod Mane’s parents and aunt, who had come in contact with him, also tested positive and passed away the same week.

“My brother died first… Our parents and aunt were in the same ICU. But I didn’t inform them about his death,” said Dr Pravin Mane, who runs a hospital in Navi Mumbai area.

On April 17, Pramod was called for election duty in Pandharpur-Mangalvedha. Two days after returning to his home in Gherdi village in Sangola taluka of Solapur district, Pramod developed a fever and tested positive for Covid. He later got himself admitted in a hospital Sangola.

“My brother was admitted to Sangola hospital. I was not happy with the treatment he was getting. Therefore, I decided to take him along to Navi Mumbai where I run a hospital along with my relative,” Dr Pravin said.

After their parents and aunt also tested positive, Dr Mane shifted them to his Navi Mumbai hospital too.

“Besides attending the election duty, my brother was also working on contact tracing in his area. I am not sure where he got infected during election duty or during contact tracing work,” said Dr Mane.

– Stay updated with the latest Pune news. Follow Express Pune on Twitter here and on Facebook here. You can also join our Express Pune Telegram channel here.

Pramod, who was known for his work ethic, had refused to heed his family’s advice on avoiding contact tracing work. “He was a dedicated government employee…Despite the fact that he was 50 plus and a diabetic, he religiously did his duty,” said Dr Mane.

Dr Mane said all the four of his family members had comorbidities. “They either had heart ailment or were diabetic. Initially, they were doing fine but there was a sudden drop in their oxygen saturation level and therefore had to be put on a ventilator. Despite our best efforts we could not save them. On four consecutive days, I lost my four family members…,” Dr Mane said.

Dr Mane, however, said he would not lIke to link his brother’s death to the election duty. “I don’t want to make it look political. My brother did his duty like a committed employee…But yes, because of him, our parents and aunt might have got infected,” he said.

Pramod is survived by his wife and 12-year-old son and two younger brothers and their families. Both his wife and son had tested positive but have now recovered.