Doctor drives a tractor to carry COVID-19 victim’s body for burial
Naveen S Garewal
Tribune News Service
Hyderabad, July 13
Humanity has no limits, and the extraordinary action by Dr Pendyala Srinivasa Sriram from the Peddapalli Government Hospital in Telangana showed just that. When no one was willing to touch the body of a COVID-19 victim, the doctor volunteered to ride a tractor and ferried the dead body loaded in the trolley to the graveyard.
This action at a time when officials are being accused of disrespecting the dead and dumping bodies in mass graves has been widely acclaimed across the state after the pictures of the doctor riding the tractor went viral.
Dr Sriram who works with TB hospital, Sultanabad, was appointed as District Surveillance Officer for Covid-19 and was on duty when he found that the relatives of the 45-year-old patient who had succumbed to the virus were begging ambulance drivers to take the body to the burial ground. But fearing infection, none was willing to oblige. It is then that the doctor adorned a Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) kit and offered to help.
After repeated requests, the Peddapalli municipal staff arranged a tractor, but the driver of the tractor refused to go to drive the tractor to the burial fearing COVID-19 transmission. Even relatives of the family reportedly stayed away from assisting in the funeral. When Dr Sriram took to the wheels four family members accompanied him.
With the doctor turning driver, the family of the deceased was finally able to complete the last rites in line with COVID-19 standard operating procedures (SOP) in proper safety gear.
Talking to the media Dr Sriram said, “There are fears and lack of knowledge about the disease and its spread. Even the tractor driver was scared. I just wanted to set an example and show that there is nothing to fear. But when handled with proper Personal Protection Equipment (PPE), the virus spread can be arrested. The body was also disinfected before it was packed in the body bag. I drove the body to the burial ground so that our staff will also take it up without fear if such a situation arises even in my absence.”
He said that there was an urgent need to spread awareness that the dead body of the COVID-19 victim is disinfected and packed eliminating the chances of infection unless someone fiddles with the packing. The doctor said his action was being circulated on social media he would like to appeal to the people saying, “Doctors and other frontline workers are fighting the virus relentlessly. Please don’t come out unnecessarily, if you do go out don’t touch anything that is not yours.”
Dr Pramod Kumar, Peddapalli District Health and Medical Officer (DMHO) while appreciating the gesture of Dr Sriram said “As it was the first case of death in the district headquarters, there was a little delay in designating an ambulance to transport the body. We have engaged ambulances in the district to ferry and discharge patients.”
Meanwhile, another leader of the opposition Congress party in Telangana died of Coronavirus today. Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) secretary G. Narendra Yadav succumbed to the virus at a private hospital in Hyderabad, where he was admitted a few days ago. Yadav had recently participated in various programmes to distribute aid among poor hit hard by the lockdown.
“It is shocking and saddening that one of our active senior leaders Narendra Yadav died due to COVID-19. May his soul rest in peace and condolences to his family and friends… His death is a great loss to the party,” tweeted party spokesman Dr Sravan Dasoju. Yadav is the second party leader to die of COVID-19 in a week.
