BMC establishes committee to verify video showing bodies lying near Covid-19 patients

The alleged video shows some bodies lying near COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in the Sion area of ​​Mumbai.

The Brihanmummbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said Thursday that it has a committee to verify an alleged video of bodies stored alongside patients with COVID-19 at the city’s Sion Hospital that went viral on social media. This occurs after the BJP hit the Sena-ruled BMC over the incident.

Mumbai: Video shows bodies lying near COVID-19 patients;

In a statement, the civic body said the committee will uncover the facts and present its report in the next 24 hours. According to the reported finding, action will be taken against the culprit. The civic corps will ensure that such incidents do not occur, according to the statement.

The statement also said that the BMC had already issued a circular that all the bodies of COVID-19 patients and COVID-19 suspects should be released to family members within 30 minutes of death. However, in many cases it has been observed that family members are unavailable and deliberately delayed in accepting the bodies.

BJP lawmaker Nitesh Rane shared the video on his Twitter account that allegedly shows some bodies lying near COVID-19 patients undergoing treatment at Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in the Sion area of ​​Mumbai.

In the tweet, Rane said: “The Sion hospital has shown great negligence in allowing COVID-19 patients to sleep among the bodies of those who died of the same disease. The BMC boasts of being the richest civic body but pays no attention to patient safety. “

At Sion Hospital … patients sleep next to the corpses!
This is the extreme … what kind of administration is this!
Very very embarrassing !! @mybmc pic.twitter.com/NZmuiUMfSW

– nitesh rane (@NiteshNRane) May 6, 2020

He also noted that the hospital mainly receives patients from Dharavi, the largest slum area in the country and currently one of the Covid-19 outbreaks in the state.

“Is this how we treat our working class? Such neglect of Sion hospital and medical personnel could lead to further spread of coronavirus infection, “he added.

Former Maharashtra Prime Minister and current opposition leader in the State Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, called it an “extremely serious problem” and said: “It is a very serious matter that patients have to be treated on the side of the corpse. The question is whether Mumbaikars has no guardian. The government must take immediate action and ensure that such an incident does not happen again. “

Congress leader Milind Deora also questioned the BMC for not following the protocols prescribed by the WHO for the disposal of bodies of coronavirus victims. “Outraged to see corpses with the sick at Sion Hospital. Why isn’t @mybmc following the protocols prescribed by @WHO when getting rid of #COVID? 19 corpses? “He tweeted.

“The staff of the public hospital is doing everything possible with limited resources on hand. The Mumbai administration needs to step up NOW, “he added.

In response, the dean of the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital, Dr. Pramod Ingale, said that the relatives of the victims of COVID-19 are reluctant to take their bodies. “That is the reason why the bodies were kept there unattended. Now we have removed the bodies and are investigating the matter, “he told PTI.

When asked why the bodies were not transferred to a morgue, Ingale said: “There are 15 slots in the hospital morgue of which 11 are already full. If we move all the bodies to the morgue, it will be a problem for the bodies of those who died from causes other than COVID-19. “

The statement also said that the BMC had already issued a circular that all the bodies of COVID-19 patients and COVID-19 suspects should be released to family members within 30 minutes of death. However, in many cases it has been observed that family members are unavailable and deliberately delayed in accepting the bodies.

As of Wednesday, Mumbai had reported 10,527 cases of COVID-19 and 412 deaths.

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