A day after her death, woman gets +ve result for COVID test

Delays in getting back COVID-19 test reports from civic body-run testing centres and laboratories have long been an issue of concern, amid ongoing pandemic fighting measures. But now, a fresh incident in Pimpri-Chinchwad has emphasised the terrible consequences of such negligence by the authorities, casting doubts anew on their handling of the health crisis. On Saturday, a 59-year-old Talawade resident, who had gotten tested 11 days ago at a Nigdi-based testing centre, received a report citing that she was positive for the coronavirus. But ironically, she had already passed away a day prior, on Friday last week.

Already shocked by her sudden death, her traumatised family is facing a double jeopardy, as they now have to rush to get tested amid their grief. The fuming relatives have demanded an in-depth inquiry into the delay in getting back reports and strict action against staff responsible, saying their loved one may have had a chance to fight her infection had they known just days earlier.

The deceased woman was identified as Kamal Pandurang Dhukate, whose home is in Rupee Nagar. After experiencing some COVID-19 symptoms, she had visited the Yamunanagar Civic Hospital testing centre owned by Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) in the first week of September, where she underwent both antigen and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) swab test.

While the antigen test showed her report to be virusnegative, the authorities told her the other report would be conveyed within 24 hours. Under the impression that she had nothing serious, Kamal waited for a day and restarted her routine, as health authorities failed to call her back.

But on September 9, Kamal started feeling uneasy, and rushed to the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital (YCMH) in Pimpri. There, before she was diagnosed with the virus, she succumbed to the infection on Friday. Assuming it to be a non-COVID-19 death, the funeral was held on the same day.

On Saturday morning, out of the blue, her family received a call from PCMC health officials, stating the positive result of the 11-day-old report. They said an ambulance would be reaching their house soon to admit the patient — who was already no more.

Her son Swapnil Dhukate said, “Early diagnosis could have saved my mother. This call we got showed truly how cruel the entire system is. They are least bothered about anybody’s life. We have demanded action against person responsible for this delay. Under the impression that everything is okay, my mother did not take medical help. How can they even begin to compensate us for such a loss?”

Emphasising the travails faced by local residents, Sagar Charan, an inhabitant of the area, added, “Patients are forced to wait for seven or 10 days to get RT-PCR test reports. Within this time, they come in contact with several healthy people, and could pass on the virus if they are positive. The administration is responsible for this tragic death. The guilty must be punished.” Trying to explain their mistake, an employee of the Yamunanagar testing centre said on condition of anonymity, “In the past week, the number of COVID-19 tests has been very high. Many lab assistants and pathologists also tested positive. This delay happened due to a staff crunch.”

Asked about the same, PCMC additional commissioner Santosh Patil said, “We will conduct an inquiry into this death and the guilty officials will be punished. Due to a spike in tests and infections amongst lab staff, many samples could not be tested on time. A number of labs were also shut for a few days. To avoid a repeat of such an incident, we have already increased the number of testing centres and enrolled new labs. We will ensure that RT-PCR reports are sent within 24 hours.”