In yet another case of dead bodies being swapped in Kerala, the corpse of an unidentified person was wrongly given to the family of a COVID-19 victim from the mortuary of Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The incident came to light after the dead body of the victim, a native of Venniyoor near Vizhinjam, was cremated. The unidentified person also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Dr Mohan Ray, Regional Medical Officer (RMO) of the Medical College Hospital, has begun an inquiry into the incident.
The dead body was handed over to the relatives on October 2 and the swapping came to be known in an examination conducted by the hospital authorities on Saturday.
Medical College Principal Dr Sarah Varghese has directed the RMO to submit a report on it.
Dr Mohan Ray confirmed to TNM that the inquiry has begun, but didn't divulge further details.
“The unidentified person was brought dead to the hospital and tested positive for the novel coronavirus during examination. Health Inspector of Vizhinjam had informed the hospital authorities that the son of the Venniyoor native had identified the dead body as that of his father,” read a statement from the hospital regarding the inquiry into the incident.
A similar incident happened at Palakkad district hospital on September 17 after the bodies of a 75-year old COVID-19 patient and that of a 38-year old tribal woman were accidentally swapped inside the mortuary.
The hospital has terminated contracts of eight temporary staff for the lapse. However, no action has been taken against their reporting officers who approved the handover of the body.