'Karnataka reported its 20th COVID-19 related death on Monday, and nine new coronavirus cases were confirmed in the state, taking the total number of infections to 512. As of Tuesday morning, as many as 193 people had been recovered. While a 50-year old COVID-19 patient allegedly committed suicide at a hospital, the Health Department has categorised it as "death due to non-COVID cause". Confirming the 20th COVID-19 death in the state, Medical Education Minister Sudhakar said the 57-year-old person was a resident of Aland and had tested positive on April 21...'
'A 12-year-old boy succumbed to 16 hours of excruciating pain in Agra after half-a-dozen nursing homes and hospitals allegedly refused to treat him, fearing that he might be Covid-19 positive. Nihal Singh, the deceased, was suffering from acute stomach pain. After being turned away from six private nursing homes and hospitals, when his father finally took him to the government-run S.N. Medical College, they were told that it was meant for Covid patients only and he would be treated in the same ward as these patients.
'India could find itself in an acute health crisis over the next few months and the direct cause of it will not be the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Hundreds of thousands of children might already have missed vital immunizations, shows a Mint analysis of the latest health ministry data. Thousands of adults may have missed potentially life-saving medical treatment as the novel coronavirus epidemic spread and a lockdown came into force.
'A assistant sub-inspector deputed at Mumbai’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) has tested positive for COVID-19, the department informed the special NIA court on Saturday, April 25, while opposing the interim bail application filed by academic and civil rights activist Anand Teltumbde who was arrested on April 14 amid the rapidly spreading COVID-19 virus in the country. Despite the NIA’s disclosure that an officer was infected, a special NIA court rejected Teltumbde’s interim bail application and sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
'Bringing up the recent death of two Tablighi Jamaat members, who were kept at Delhi’s quarantine centre in Sultanpuri, the Delhi Minorities Commission has written to Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal requesting a probe. The letter which was sent on 24 April states, “Both of the dead belonged to Tamil Nadu and both were diabetic and died due to denial of diabetic medicines and erratic food supply.” While one died on 22 April the other died about ten days before...'
'At 2 a.m. on Thursday, a young media professional diagnosed with malaria, experienced a sudden spike in fever. But the closest hospital near her Mahim home said told her she should not come in for a consultation till she had a COVID-19 negative report in hand. Scarred by COVID-19 patient encounters that have infected many healthcare workers and have forced some hospitals to shut down, many medical institutions have made it a norm to demand proof of a patient being COVID-19 negative before treatment.
'In the Govandi slums of eastern Mumbai, 27-year-old Anjum Shaikh has heard enough about the coronavirus pandemic to know that she should wash her hands regularly to avoid infection. Yet with no running water to the single-storey structure she calls home, she has few options but to pay a neighbour for access to his tap – for 7 minutes, at 4am, three times a week. “If I don’t wake up in time, I will be left with no water. So, the days when it is my turn to fill water, I just don’t sleep,” she said. Such sleepless nights aren’t Shaikh’s only concern, however.
'Dr Simon was the Managing Director of New Hope Hospital in Chennai. The 55-year-old neurosurgeon has helped hundreds of patients in his lifetime, and is remembered by people around him as a person who put humanity first. But in his death, Dr Simon was denied the same by residents of the city that he served, thanks to uncontrolled rumours around the spread of COVID-19. In fact, his family couldn’t even say a final goodbye to the doctor, who died due to COVID-19 and likely contracted the disease from patients he was caring for.
'Pregnant and bleeding, a woman who came to a Jamshedpur hospital was allegedly asked to clean up her blood, accused of spreading the coronavirus, and turned away-events which culminated in the loss of her child. The Jharkhand Police has taken cognizance of the incident and the Jamshedpur SSP has been asked to inquire into the matter...'
'Uttar Pradesh’s Valentis Cancer Hospital in Meerut recently issued an advertisement in a local daily, stating that it would no longer be accepting Muslim patients from Muslim-dominated localities in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. After the advertisement was brought to the notice of UP Police, a probe was initiated into the matter. The hospital is a medical facility to treat cancer patients, and its decision to exclude Muslims from treatment would be detrimental to the minorities living in western UP.
