Hyd: COVID suspect with hospital slip in pocket found dead on footpath

Hyderabad: Even as the Telangana government has claimed, to be among the best states in handling COVID-19 Pandemic. There is a case which might reflect how miserably the state government departments have failed. The reality, seems to be very different against the tall claims.

Two weeks after a COVID-19 suspect was found dead by the roadside at Narayanaguda, another man met a similar end on Thursday within the same jurisdiction.

Govind, a resident of Boduppal, was suffering from cold and severe cough, he forced and sent to King Koti Hospital on the 24 April. The doctors said he 'did not have symptoms' of COVID-19 and referred him to the Chest Hospital at Erragadda, which is around 10 km from King Koti. He was given a prescription by doctors of the out patient ward, but did not provide an ambulance.

Since no transport facility available amid lockdown, It is 'suspected' that the man tried to walk to Erragadda while his second wife and children live in Boduppal . Next, he was spotted at Boggulkunta area. Since then, he has been lying by the roadside, said an eye-witness . On Thursday, a fruit and vegetable vendor noticed the man on the footpath and alerted the Narayanaguda police station.

When the cops arrived, he has passed away already. When the team checked his pockets, cops found a prescription slip. The police informed the COVID-19 team at Gandhi Hospital who shifted the body from the spot.

Sub Inspector of Police, Karunakar Reddy of Narayanguda police station, told NewsMeter, 'Govind, a tractor driver, is a COVID suspect. Residents of Boduppal lodged a complaint with the area police resulting in him approaching King Koti Hospital on the 24th of April. The 45 year old man visited the out patient ward and was referred to chest hospital. Over a week , he did not reported to Chest hospital however was found dead on a footpath in Narayanguda. A vegetable vendor alerted the police after he found him lying lifeless. The man had the contact number of his employer, through whom the cops contacted his family.

When asked about whether samples were collected, the cops said, " The body was handed over to the COVID disposal team and subsequently he was buried. No samples were collected'.

However, it is not clear if the man had contracted the virus. He is survived by two wives and three children, including two daughters and a one-and-a-half-month-old son.