Bengaluru health official loses three relatives to Covid-19 within days

Tragedy struck Bommanahalli Medical Health Officer Dr Nagendra Kumar for the third time, as he lost his 70-year-old mother to Covid-19 on Thursday night.

Only a few days ago, Dr Nagendra’s 50-year-old brother-in-law and 73-year-old father had succumbed to the deadly infection.

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Dr Nagendra, who was too devastated to talk to this newspaper, had revealed to BBMP special commissioner D Randeep that his brother-in-law was turned away by three hospitals. His plight has raised serious questions over the access to treatment by ordinary citizens, if this was the way hospitals treated a civic official’s relative.

Randeep told DH that Dr Nagendra revealed his brother-in-law’s plight during his hour of grief. The special commissioner is awaiting the health official’s statement to send notices to the three private hospitals.

A health inspector working with Dr Nagendra told DH: “His father died on July 20. Two days later, he lost his sister’s husband, a PHC doctor in Kanakapura taluk in Ramanagara district. Tragically, just a day later, his mother passed away (on Thursday night). She was cremated on Friday.”

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His brother-in-law was first taken to BGS Hospital and then to Sagar Hospital in Kumaraswamy Layout. “He was later shifted to Victoria Hospital, where he passed away three to four days later,” the health inspector said. “He struggled a lot to get a bed for his brother-in-law. His father was shifted to BGS Hospital since we couldn’t find a bed for him at government hospitals.”

Private hospitals apparently demanded a Covid-19 report, which his brother-in-law did not have. “In fact, they were admitting patients from Chennai, but not the family member of our own BBMP doctor,” the health inspector lamented.

12-year-old nephew infected

He further said that Dr Nagendra’s parents were first admitted to BGS, but were later shifted to KIMS where they passed away. His 12-year-old nephew was also infected with Covid-19.

Six of Dr Nagendra’s family members were infected with Covid-19, including himself. While three survived, three had succumbed. The family lived in the same building. His sister, a dentist, lived with her family a floor below Dr Nagendra’s. His wife is an ENT doctor in Victoria Hospital, the inspector said.