Chhattisgarh COVID-19 victims miss the minimum dignity of even a corpse carrier

RAIPUR: Although arranging a vehicle is the responsibility of the Nagar Panchayat and chief minister’s office, bodies of patients who died from COVID-19 are transported in a garbage van in Rajnandgaon in Chhattisgarh.

At least four sanitation workers in PPE kits were seen lifting and staking bodies of COVID-19 victims into the van and driving them to the crematorium in a disturbing footage that has gone viral.

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"Arranging the vehicle is the responsibility of the Nagar Panchayat and the CMO," the chief medical health officer of Rajnandgaon has reportedly said in response to the incident.

In order to combat the sharp rise in infections and lack of beds, the Press Club in Rajnandgaon has transformed its premises into a COVID care centre, where asymptomatic patients are treated free of cost.

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A total of 30 beds have been set aside at the press club for asymptomatic patients. To care for the patients, a team of medical personnel has been pressed into action 24 hours a day, seven days a week at the club.

The health service in Chhattisgarh, one of the states hardest hit by the pandemic, is crumbling under the weight of rising cases and deaths.

Intensive care units (ICUs) and oxygen-equipped beds in Raipur, the state capital, have been nearly full over the past week.

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On Wednesday, Chhattisgarh reported 14,250 new COVID-19 infections and 120 deaths, bringing the total number of infections to 4,86,244 and the death toll to 5,307.

In the last month alone, the state has seen over 1.68 lakh cases and 1,417 deaths.

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