Lucknow: Contract Worker on COVID-19 Duty Dies Due to Alleged Medical Negligence, Hospital Denies

Lucknow: A 26-year-old frontline warrior at the designated COVID-19 hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) succumbed to the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, April 6, reportedly due to "medical negligence".

Sanjeev Kumar, a native of Hathras district and an attendant at the SGPGI, was working for the last six months and deputed at the COVID-19 ward since March 28. His job was to help patients perform routine tasks like eating or moving around and assist the hospital staff in taking care of important duties. However, two days ago, Kumar complained of uneasiness in chest, breathlessness and mild fever. He was rushed to hospital but was declared dead, his brother Nitesh alleged.

"My brother Sanjeev was hired through an outsourcing agency six months earlier and he was continuously on duty since March 28 at the COVID-19 designated ward at PGI hospital. Even on the day he died, Sanjeev had performed his duty in the COVID-19 Ward. Despite this, the hospital authorities are not accepting him as their worker. The management hid his duty chart as soon as they got the news of his death, so that they could claim that he was no longer associated with the hospital,” said Nitesh, adding that Sanjeev had developed expectoration and breathlessness for two days and his health had continued to deteriorate.

"He was sent home rather than being treated in the hospital. He fell down soon after reaching home. With the help of neighbours, he was sent to the civil hospital but he died on the way," Nitesh further alleged.

Meanwhile, the hospital authorities have denied the reason of Sanjeev's death to be COVID-19 and claimed that he had left the job two months earlier and was no longer on duty. "I do not have any such information in my knowledge that someone died due to COVID-19," Prof RK Singh, medical superintendent RCH, SGPGI told NewsClick.

On the other hand, following the allegedly callous attitude of the medical college and irresponsible statement of the medical superintendent, angry contractual workers of SGPGI held a protest outside the gate against the management on April 7.

"The day Sanjeev died, he was on duty at the hospital in the morning. We have evidence but since he was a contractual worker, his dead body is not even worth compensating for the hospital authority," Gopichand, president of the workers union told NewsClick, demanding Rs 50 lakh as financial assistance for the family of the deceased.

He further said that even though Rs 50 lakh compensation has been declared by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for such cases, but the hospital does not want to pay the compensation, and that is why they are not accepting that Sanjeev was an employee of the hospital.

Also read: COVID-19: Over 1 Lakh New Cases in Single Day for First Time Since Outbreak in India

"In the initial days of the COVID-19 pandemic, much hue and cry was made by the Modi government for appreciating the frontline COVID-19 workers. We were given the name Corona Warrior but when it comes to the death of one among us, nobody pays any heed to our grievances," he added.

40 KGMU DOCTORS TEST POSITIVE

At least 40 doctors of the prestigious King George's Medical University (KGMU) including its vice-chancellor Vipin Puri and medical superintendent D Himanshu, have reportedly tested positive for the novel coronavirus despite taking both doses of vaccine.

Confirming the news, the university spokesperson, Sandeep Tewari told media, "Around 40 doctors of KGMU tested COVID positive in the couple of days. Most of the doctors were vaccinated twice.”

Meanwhile, tests of several other faculty members and screening of other staff are being conducted.

As per latest figures, Uttar Pradesh has recorded a nearly 50% jump in COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, the state reported 6,180 new cases across the state wherein 2,000 cases were reported in capital Lucknow alone, which has emerged as a COVID-19 hotspot. Out of total cases, 30 people have died so far, the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Health Amit Mohan Prasad told media.