In a tragic turn of events, the dreadful coronavirus claimed the lives of six members of one family in Tirupur district in a span of less than three weeks. The latest among the victims was an elderly mother, who although was not infected by the virus had lost her life on Thursday, shocked on knowing that her four sons and one daughter-in-law had succumbed to the virus.
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Coimbatore:
Trigger Warning: The following content may cause emotional distress.
It all started with N Deivaraj, 42 from Velliraveli village near Kunnathur, who contracted the virus after attending a condolence in Coimbatore last month, died without responding to treatment at Government Erode Medical College and Hospital on May 9. Within one week, his wife Shanthi, 35, also lost her life while undergoing treatment in the same hospital on May 16.
Things didn’t settle down then as three elder brothers of Deivaraj also had fallen prey to the virus one by one. Barely three days after Shanthi’s demise, Thangaraj, 52 and Raja, 50, died in Uthukuli Government Hospital on the same day on May 19.
The very next day on May 20, the virus snuffed out the life of Soundarajan, 45, undergoing treatment at Tirupur Government Hospital. Till then, the family members didn’t disclose the tragic demise of four brothers and one daughter-in-law to their mother Paapal, 70, who was already ailing from age-related illness.
She however inquired the relatives on the reason for her sons not visiting her and was devastated on knowing about their death. In the early morning hours on Thursday, Paapal was found dead in the house presumably consumed by grief over the loss of five members of her family.
Following subsequent deaths from a single family, the medical teams from the local Primary Health Centre organised a door to door check to identify villagers affected by COVID-19.
Officials of the Health Department said that 57 persons from the village have tested positive for coronavirus in this month so far. Of them, 13 persons have lost their lives in the village, which has a population of around 6,000 people.
“We have been gripped by panic due to frequent deaths. Apart from taking efforts to contain the pandemic, a medical camp should be organised to provide psychological counselling to villagers to overcome our fear factor,” said Gopalakrishnan, a resident of Velliraveli village.
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