Bihar Hospital declares alive COVID-19 patient as dead, hands over body of another person to kin

Patna District Magistrate has asked hospital authorities to investigate the matter and take action against the person responsible for the incident.

Representational Image (ANI)

New Delhi: A Bihar hospital has stirred controversy after pronouncing an alive COVID-19 patient dead and handing over another person's body to his kin. The incident reportedly took place at a hospital in Patna on Sunday (April 11, 2021).

The hospital authorities declared Chunnu Kumar, a resident of Mahmadpur village in the Barh sub-division in Patna district who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19, dead and handed over the body of another person to his brother, as per the PTI news agency.

The incident led to the Patna District Magistrate Chandrasekhar Singh asking the hospital authorities to investigate the matter and take action against the person responsible within a day. Singh also asked them to take steps to ensure that such incidents do not repeat in the future. 

Patna, notably, is the worst COVID-19-hit city in Bihar.

Meanwhile, the state's COVID-19 caseload has increased to 2,83,229, after more than 7,200 confirmed cases were reported in the last 48 hours. The state has also witnessed 1,610 coronavirus-related fatalities.