A 65-year-old COVID-19 patient reportedly ended his life at a hospital in the early hours of Thursday.
According to hospital sources, the elderly man, from Melmanambedu, Tiruvallur district, had throat pain and his family asked him to get tested. He visited a private hospital in Porur a few days ago and tested positive for COVID-19. “He wanted to be quarantined at home, but his family members asked him to get admitted to Tiruvallur General Hospital as there were little children at home,” said a source.
He was admitted in the first floor of the new block, which has been converted into a COVID-19 special ward. “Nurses and other staff claim that he used to call and speak in an angry tone with his family members,” the source added.
On Wednesday night, nurses saw him speaking on the phone, standing in the corridor and asked him to return to his bed. “On Thursday morning he was missing. Later, they found him dead in the corridor,” said the staff of the hospital.
The staff of the hospital said that as on date there are 78 patients in the wards. “All of them are given counselling and yoga sessions. But despite this we are not sure why this happened,” said the staff member.
The police were informed about the incident. A case has been registered.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline at 044-24640050.)
