Sample of suspected COVID-19 patient who killed self at hospital were not collected: Health Ministry

The samples of the suspected coronavirus patient who allegedly committed suicide by jumping off the seventh floor of the Safdarjung Hospital here, were not collected for testing, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday.

The facts in the case are not yet known and an inquiry into the matter has been initiated by the hospital administration, the official said adding that samples of a deceased are not tested.

The health ministry said the man, who was living in Sydney, arrived at the Delhi airport on Wednesday. At the airport, he reported headache as 'chief complaint' in his self-reporting form.

He was brought to the Safdarjung Hospital by the airport authorities and immediately put in the isolation ward, hospital sources said.

The health ministry said that on reaching the hospital around 9 pm on Wednesday, he was taken to the seventh floor for evaluation.

When doctors reached there, he wasn't found. Meanwhile, another doctor while coming out of the building at 9.15 pm observed a body lying at the ground floor, the statement said. While police said he was 35-years-old, the health ministry statement said the man was 23-years-old.