A 71-year-old Chennai man, a native of Ramanathapuram (Ramnad), died on April 2 at Stanley Medical College Hospital in Chennai and two days later, his test results for novel coronavirus returned positive, confirming that he died of COVID-19. However, by this time, his mortal remains were driven hundreds of kilometres away to his native village in Keezhakarai (Ramnad district) by his sons, following which a funeral was held, attended by over a hundred people.
This particular case has sent shockwaves across the state for the careless nature in which a possible COVID-19 case was handled, whose aftereffects we are witnessing now. As a result, 151 people are under home quarantine and 12,000 houses are under constant surveillance for COVID-19. Additionally, an FIR under Indian Penal Code sections 188, 269, 270, 278, with Section 51 (b) of Disaster Management Act, 58(4) and 134 of Tamil Nadu Public Health Act and Section 3 of Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 has been filed against the deceased’s sons based on a complaint by the Village Administrative Officer (VAO). Even though many players are involved in this incident, including the hospital and Tamil Nadu Health department officials, the focus, however, is on the family, for endangering the lives of many.
A death and a funeral
The man, who was a resident of Chennai, was under home quarantine since he returned from Dubai on March 16. On April 2, he admitted himself to Stanley Hospital at 9.45 am and a few hours later on the same day, his condition worsened, leading to his death around 11.45 am.
However, questions arise as to why the man’s body was allowed to be taken home by his family members if the hospital was already waiting on his novel coronavirus test results. The reason why it took two days to ascertain the test results as opposed to 6 hours as is standard procedure, is another question that arises.
According to sources in Stanley Hospital, the family was not informed about the tests that had been taken to check for the virus. "As per the rules, you don't need permission," says a senior doctor. "But it makes sense to have told the family before releasing the body because they would be required to be under quarantine and tested too," he points out.
The doctor further reveals that the patient was first taken in an ambulance to Villupuram district and then shifted to another emergency vehicle from there to Ramanathapuram, widening the risk of infection.
Speaking to TNM, Mujeeb Jamal, the son of the deceased, lamented that no clarification on their part was enough. "There are already 5,000 versions out there. I have nothing to say.”
Health Secretary Beela Rajesh, while adding that there were a lot of “constraints” in the way the body was taken from the hospital, acknowledges the aftereffects of this reckless decision.
“Whatever they did, there were a lot of constraints in the way the body was taken away from the hospital. The guidelines have been issued. But the aftereffects we are dealing with now. We have quarantined nearly 200 people because of that and we are taking all containment activities,” she said, responding to TNM’s question if it was true that the sons were not informed about the tests.
Consequences
Ramanathapuram MP Navaskani points out that the hospital should not have handed over the body in the first place. “They have been careless in handing over the body, saying it is a normal death. What is the purpose of the lockdown then? We are fighting to avoid community spread and this defeats the purpose. They should not have allowed the family to have taken his body so many kilometres away without knowing the test results,” he says.
The police have, however, filed cases against the sons based on a complaint by the VAO for inviting more people when section 144 is in place, which prohibits the gathering of over five people.
Speaking to TNM, Ramanathapuram District Collector K Veera Raghava Rao says with section 144 in place, the family should not have held the funeral on the scale that they did. “They have violated 144. Police have registered the case and they will be investigating it. They (sons) need not have called so many people when section 144 is in place,” he explains. Among those who attended was a Ramanathapuram MLA.
On the containment activities, the Collector explains, ”We roped in all our health department officials, local body and all connected departments and we have identified 151 contacts in all. Eleven of them are family members, five are those who conducted rituals. The remaining 135 are those who attended the funeral. We have advised all these contacts to be under home quarantine and we are monitoring. The 16 are first-line contacts. Secondly, we have started a local containment plan. Within a 5 km radius for around 12,000 houses, 215 workers have been deployed. We will do a survey for 14 days continuously. We are doing continuous disinfection. The street on which the family contact lives has been put under closer watch.”
This containment process, however, has disgruntled Keezhakarai residents with the deceased’s family being subjected to their displaced anger. The deceased’s daughter shared a voice note on WhatsApp explaining how traumatic it has been for her family to listen to rumours accusing them of endangering people’s lives. “We are all under home quarantine. You can come and see for yourself,” she has said, even as Keezhakarai residents continue to demand an apology from the family for putting them at risk.