Woman’s death triggers panic in Chamarajanagar district

A woman, who had come to a private hospital for respiratory problems and diarrhoea, on Sunday evening, failed to respond to the treatment and died at the Covid Hospital here, on Monday morning.

This created panic among the people. However, lab reports confirmed that she was not suffering from Covid and was a patient of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI).

As the woman was suffering from respiratory problems, the doctors at the private hospital, directed to shift her to the Covid hospital. As she was said to be a native of Mandya district, the doctors suspected Covid-19, and the private hospital, where she was treated was closed for sanitisation. The places surrounding the hospital were also disinfected and the road was sealed-down.

This created anxiety among the residents, who claimed that the hospital staff were not quarantined, despite treating a woman with Covid. As soon as they learnt that the woman died, they panicked.

However, only after the reports confirmed that the deceased's throat swabs and blood samples confirmed negative for Covid, they heaved a sigh of relief.

Deputy Commissioner M R Ravi in a press briefing clarified that the woman is a native of Byadamodlu village in Chamarajanagar taluk. She was married to a person in Srirangapatna taluk in Mandya district, but was living at Kalasthawadi in Mysuru district. She complained of chest pain on June 19 and was treated by a local doctor. Later, she came to her native Byadamodlu on June 20. On Sunday (June 21), she complained of diarrhoea and vomiting.

She was brought to a private hospital, when the doctors found her oxygen levels were low, they suspected it to be a SARI case, and advised to shift her to Covid hospital. She was kept on ventilator support, but she passed away on Monday morning. All tests conducted for Covid were negative, he said.

Medical college dean Dr Sanjeev and District Surgeon Dr Krishna Prasad were present.