Heart-rending stories of people’s battle with coronavirus continue to come to the fore, with COVID-19 cases witnessing a sharp rise in Odisha and Jharkhand.
A woman lost her husband along with her mother-in-law and father in-law in Ganjam district, while a woman’s death was followed by the demise of her five sons in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district.
Anuradha Panigrahi, a teacher in Digapahandi block in Ganjam, was shocked and saddened when she, along with her husband and in-laws, tested positive for COVID-19 on July 9. But little did she know that a bigger tragedy was waiting to completely alter her life. First, her mother-in-law succumbed to COVID-19 on July 15. The family had barely recovered from the shock when her father-in-law also died on July 18. Finally, her husband too passed away on July 20.
With multiple deaths in the family, Ms. Panigrahi was left helpless as she did not have access to intensive care units or the liberty to take the matter into her own hand.
“I have recovered from COVID-19 but lost all my family members. We could have admitted my husband and in-laws in a bigger hospital in Bhubaneswar. But, the information about health deterioration did not trickle down to us. We were kept in the dark,” alleged Ms. Panigrahi.
Hundreds of kilometres away from Ganjam, the story of the Choudhary family is equally heartbreaking in Jharkhand’s Dhanbad district. An 88-year-old woman with travel history to New Delhi was found positive when a COVID-19 test was conducted after her death in the first week of July.
The woman had attended a marriage ceremony in the last week of June. Besides, her last rites were performed in the presence of her sons and other members of her family. Since then, five of her sons, all aged above 50, died one after the other. The fifth son died on July 20. The victims were admitted in different hospitals of Ranchi, Dhanbad and Jamshedpur.
A spokesperson of Dhanbad district administration said one of the five sons was a cancer patient, while four sons had died of COVID-19. Subsequent to the series of deaths, the district administration began undertaking aggressive contract tracing in Katras area.
Jharkhand ordinance
Meanwhile, the Jharkhand Cabinet on Wednesday approved an ordinance under which violation of COVID-19 preventive measures, including not wearing masks in public places and illegal assembly, would attract a penalty of up to ₹1 lakh and two years’ imprisonment.
While Odisha’s COVID-19 positive cases shot up to 21,099 and total deaths increased to 114, Jharkhand reported 6,682 positive cases and the toll stood at 64.
