UP: COVID patient complains of total negligence in top govt hospital before death, video goes viral

A video shot by a COVID positive patient at a Uttar Pradesh government hospital in Jhansi was widely shared on social media after his death on Monday. Serious questions were raised on healthcare facilities under Yogi Adityanath government.

The 52-second-long video was recorded by the patient himself who was admitted to the COVID ward of the Jhansi Medical College and Hospital on Monday. The footage shows him struggling to speak as he breathes. His vest can be seen soaked in blood.

"There is no arrangement for water. I am feeling very hassled. Shift me to another hospital. There is no care here. There are no arrangements and there is total negligence," the man can be heard saying. He shows the COVID ward in the mobile camera, other patients can be seen lying on hospital beds around him at the Jhansi hospital.

"His wife and daughter are also Covid positive and are admitted to another L1 facility in Jhansi. They have no symptoms," GK Nigam, Jhansi's Chief Medical Officer, told the reporters on Monday, reported NDTV. The Chief Medical Officer did not react to the allegations made in the clip.

Another COVID patient, a 57 year old man, who was caught on camera walking out of a state-run hospital in Prayagraj city, just 24 hours after he was admitted to the facility, was found dead on Sunday. His body was found in bushes, just 500 metres away from the hospital.

The patient’s family has accused the hospital of "negligence", adding that he "escaped" after he faced harassment. The administration, however, has denied these claims.

He was admitted to Prayagraj's Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital with symptoms, on Friday evening with breathing issues.

An audio clip was released by his family as they claimed the patient had called them up on Saturday morning, hours before he "escaped" from the hospital, and reportedly said his complaints at the hospital went unheard.

"My mouth was dry all night. I felt suffocated, probably because of the ventilator. I tried to tell a few people here to help but no one listened," the man can be heard saying in the purported audio recording of his conversation with the family, which was released on Sunday.