Old man dies of coronavirus in Mayo Hospital

LAHORE: An elderly patient died of coronavirus due to medical staff’s alleged laxity here at the Mayo Hospital on Friday, reflecting an upward trajectory of COVID-19 mortalities with five casualties in Punjab including three in Lahore within the last four days. A youth, 22, died of coronavirus in Faisalabad on Friday.

Two doctors performing duties at Dera Ghazi Khan’s quarantine facility also tested positive for the deadly virus, raising alarm among the healthcare providers. Another doctor, working at the Nawaz Sharif Hospital, Yakki Gate, Lahore, was also tested positive, although reportedly, he got infection while dealing with patients at his private clinic.

Muhammad Hanif, 70, a resident of Sheikhupura, was found dead in the washroom of the Mayo Hospital on Friday morning. As per other coronavirus patients in the Isolation Ward, the elderly man experienced extreme pain throughout Thursday night and continued calling doctors and nurses for hours till Friday morning in helplessness as he was tied to the bed.

Despite repeated requests of other patients, no one came to help the ill-fated elderly man until he fell from the bed. The hospital staff sent sanitary workers who tied the elderly man to the bed. At 10am, the staff unfastened his hands so that he could go to washroom. On not hearing any voice after half an hour, the staff broke the washroom door only to find him dead. Other patients narrated the horrible story while saying that no one bothered to help the patient by shifting him to ventilator.

The doctors, however, say that the elderly man was carrying multiple diseases including psychological disorder. Mayo Hospital Chief Executive Officer Dr Asad Aslam claimed that the patient died of heart attack.

Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar has taken notice and directed an inquiry into the incident. Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid visited the Mayo Hospital to inquire about the cause of death of the 73-year-old patient and state of healthcare facilities being provided in Isolation Wards. She constituted a two-member committee to probe the death and look after the services provided to the patient. “In case of any deliberate negligence by the staff, action could be initiated against the responsible person,” she warned.

The minister submitted the initial inquiry report to the chief minister, while a detailed report will be submitted in 24 hours.

As many as 14 new COVID-19 cases were reported from across the province on Friday, taking the number of confirmed patients to 419. As per Corona Monitoring Room at the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, a total of 226 corona patients are pilgrims who recently returned from Iran. They are under treatment at quarantine facilities in Dera Ghazi Khan (207) and Multan (19). As many as 104 patients are under treatment in Lahore, 22 in Gujrat, 19 in Jhelum, 14 in Rawalpindi, eight in Gujranwala, five in Faisalabad, three each in Multan and Mandi Bahauddin, two in Mianwali and one each in Sargodha, Rahim Yar Khan, Narowal, Attock, Nankana Sahib and Bahawalnagar.

Dr Yasmin Rashid informed that all the confirmed COVID-19 patients are being kept in Isolation Wards and are being well taken care of. She, however, appealed to people to stay indoors and adopt social distancing. “People will have to support to augment the efforts by staying indoors to effectively combat the scourge of coronavirus. That is the only way we can stop the spread of the virus. Every single person must observe all precautions and play role in saving lives and controlling the pandemic,” she pleaded.

She advised that those people, who arrived from foreign countries during the last 14 days, must quarantine themselves at home. “If anyone shows any symptoms of coronavirus during self-quarantine, they must immediately call helpline 1033,” she said, adding that the Health Department’s Rapid Response Teams will immediately shift them to hospital and conduct testing for coronavirus free of cost.