Lucknow medical varsity closes down for cleaning; doctors, staff quarantined

Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, May 14

The post-mortem house of King George Medical University (KGMU) has been forced to close down for cleaning and sanitising on Thursday. Doctors and staff, who conducted the post-mortem of a COVID-19 positive body against protocol, have been quarantined.

The dead body of 42-year-old Ayodhya resident coming from Maharashtra in a Shramik Special Express was found by the Government Railway Police (GRP) in Lucknow’s Charbagh station on Tuesday night and was shifted to the KGMU mortuary.

Violating the standard COVID-19 protocol, the district health officials forced the doctors from the Civil Hospital to conduct the post-mortem of the body and hand it over to his family, without waiting for the deceased’s COVID-19 report.

Ignoring their reluctance, the District Magistrate Abhishek Prakash and Chief Medical Officer Narendra Aggarwal summoned two doctors and three staff members from the Civil Hospital to the KGMU to conduct the post-mortem late at night.

When his report came on Wednesday afternoon, he was found to be positive causing a huge panic among the health officials.

Sources point out that it is difficult to ascertain how many people may have been exposed to the person during the journey and after his death.

He may have infected his co-passengers during the journey on the train, who are now home quarantined and difficult to be traced.

The Government Railway Police staff that shifted the body to an ambulance and the driver and helper of the ambulance, as well as the staff of the KGMU mortuary, will soon be quarantined.

According to the state government spokesperson, until now 268 Shramik Special trains have brought in 3.27 lakh migrants workers to 46 railway stations across the state.

At least half a dozen migrants are reported to have died on the train during their arduous journey to their homes.

Two men from Jaunpur and Sitapur were found dead inside separate trains at Charbagh station on May 9.

The man, who tested positive after his death in the train on causing the closure of the KGMU post-mortem house, had arrived on May 12.

On Wednesday, the body of the 75-year-old woman from Gorakhpur was found dead inside a Shramik Special train when it reached Banda in Bundelkhand from Vadodara in Gujarat.