In Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit town, which is about 300 kilometres from Lucknow, many residents thought that he might have been a member of the health officials visiting their localities to take samples for coronavirus test.
After all, he had put on a PPE (personal protective equipment) kit, which is generally worn by the health workers.
Much to their shock and dismay, it later turned out that he was a beggar and had put on the used PPE kit in a bid to protect himself from the rains.
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''He (beggar) had found the PPE kit near a hospital...someone must have thrown it instead of disposing of it properly after using it,'' said a senior health official in the district.
The matter came to light when the picture of the beggar wearing the PPE kit went viral on the social networking sites.
''We are probing the matter....we will take action against the company responsible for disposing of the medical waste....it is sheer negligence,'' the official added.
Experts said that the PPE kit could be used only once. They say that the used PPE kits, masks and gloves should be disposed of in a bag and sanitised with sodium chloride.
Earlier also there had been complaints that the doctors and paramedical staff at a hospital had thrown the used PPE kits outside the premises instead of disposing of them properly.
Two children were seen carrying firewood in a used PPE kit, which they had found at a garbage dump, in Agra town a few months back.