Covid-positive man dies after being 'denied' treatment at Delhi hospital

A woman has alleged that her Covid-19-positive father was not admitted in time by a Delhi government hospital and died on Thursday, a charge denied by authorities of the facility.

The woman, Amarpreet, took to Twitter earlier in the day, saying, "My dad is having high fever. We need to shift him to hospital. I am standing outside LNJP Delhi & they are not taking him in. He is having corona, high fever and breathing problem. He won't survive without help. Pls help."

An hour later, she tweeted, "He is no more. The govt failed us."

Her tweets were widely circulated by netizens.

Authorities at LNJP Hospital, a dedicated Covid-19 facility, denied the charge, and said the patient was "brought dead".

According to the report shared by the hospital, the man, in his mid 60s, died at 7:37 AM.

"As per the report from the emergency department, the man was tested for Covid-19 at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital and the report came out on June 1, in which he was found positive for coronavirus infection," a senior official said.

The patient was sent to home quarantine from there, hospital authorities said.

On Thursday, he was brought to the casualty in an "unconscious state" and flat ECG line, and was declared "brought dead", they said.

Asked if the woman was made to wait at the hospital, a hospital source said LNJP Hospital, bring a dedicated Covid-19 facility, sees a "lot of rush" of patients.

"Also, there are four doctors in casualty department who can attend to four patients only at a time, besides following all social distancing and other safety guidelines. But the triage team looks out for any person in the queue who needs any immediate medical attention," the source said.

The woman, later in a tweet, demanded that all her family members be immediately tested for coronavirus.

"I lost my father today morning to Covid-19, we want other family members to get tested today only. which labs are not doing they are in danger. We are trying since morning. My mother, brother, his wife and two kids. Pls help (sic)," she said.

On June 2, the woman had also tweeted: "My father is corona positive and in Delhi, no helpline is responding @ArvindKejriwal @msisodia @dilipkpandey. Immediate support is needed".

In another tweet, she had said, "I am extremely thankful to @dilipkpandey and others for immediate attention and support. We are proceeding on next steps as advised by doctors !"

A record single-day spike of 1,513 fresh cases took the Covid-19 tally in Delhi to beyond the 23,000-mark on Wednesday and the death toll due to the disease climbed to 606, authorities said.