Close to 70 COVID-19 patients admitted in Pentland Hospital, Vellore, refused breakfast on Thursday protesting against a delay in removing the body of an elderly COVID-19 patient, who died during the early hours.
Sources said that a 67-year-old man, from Walajah in Ranipet district, was admitted in the hospital's COVID-19 ward and he died early on Thursday. However, there was some delay in removing the body from the ward and this caused concern among other patients.
According to hospital sources, the delay was caused as they had to contact officials from the deceased's native district. “They had to search a place for his burial in Wallajah. If he was from Vellore, we would have coordinated with the Corporation officials and cleared the body soon. In this incident, we removed the body by 11 p.m,” said an official.
Officials said that there was no mortuary in the hospital. "We will be holding a meeting on Friday to see what can be done if such a situation arises again," the official added.
