MARGAO
Tragedy struck a family from Betalbatim on Tuesday when a 49-year old Covid positive woman, gasping for breath, died in a car outside the South Goa district hospital as she could not get admission or oxygen in the hospital.
For five long hours, the woman is believed to have struggled for oxygen in her car before she breathed her last at 11 am. Betalbatim village Sarpanch Constancio Miranda said her husband made repeated pleas to the district hospital to admit his wife as she was gasping for breath, but his pleas fell on deaf ears.
While the hospital administration had no idea about the incident that has happened outside the hospital, officials in the know said hospital was full with patients since last night till early morning, even forcing the administration to shift around 15 patients to the Goa Medical College and hospital, Bambolim.
The woman had undergone a Covid test at a Margao-based private hospital. Her condition turned critical early morning. The family inquired with the private hospital at around 9 am on Tuesday and the hospital confirmed she has tested positive for coronavirus.
The Betalbatim Sarpanch told the media that he received a call from a villager in the wee hours of Tuesday, at around 5.30 am, saying his wife is gasping for breath. “I suggested him to immediately rush her to the South district hospital. He reached the hospital at around 6 am and was pleading with the hospital authorities to admit his wife, but in vain. His wife finally breathed her last at around 11 as the husband’s plea fell on deaf ears”, he said.
The ordeal did not end there. Left with no option, the husband brought her body by the same car and the body lay in the vehicle for some hours for want of instructions. “Since the husband wanted to do the last rites, I called up the health, district hospital, public health and the police, but not a single authority was ready to give proper instructions how to go about. Only when I called up the local MLA Wilfred D’Sa that he assured to do the needful and get the death report”, the Sarpanch said.
The last rites were performed at 5.45 pm. The Betalbatim sarpanch made a fervent plea to the government to ensure that no other citizen meets such a fate. “I understand that there’s a surge in the Covid cases and it’s difficult to handle the growing system. But, the government should put a system in place to ensure that people do not die for want of beds and oxygen”, Constancio said.
He added: “For five hours, she struggled for oxygen, but the hospital did not admit her. This should not happen to any other citizen. She should have been admitted as she was gasping for breath as her oxygen was going down. This woman would have survived if she had got the oxygen in the hospital”.
