Family says 58-year-old nurse died of COVID, RGGGH denies

Chennai

Priscilla, a senior nurse, had superannuated in April, but got an extension as the State is battling the pandemic. A staff of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, she had been on duty at the COVID ward, and had gone into quarantine.

About two weeks ago, she fell unwell with symptoms like fever. Following this, she was admitted to the same hospital. According to her family, Priscilla showed symptoms of COVID and had developed respiratory issues a few days ago. She died after developing complications on Wednesday evening, they claimed.

They alleged that the hospital authorities were denying that coronavirus infection was the cause of her death, as they did not want her to be eligible for the Rs 50 lakh compensation announced by the State government for frontline workers who die due to COVID.

However, when contacted, senior officials at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital said that two tests that were conducted on the nurse turned negative. The officials added that the mention of her COVID-19 status as positive in the case sheet could be an error.

Backing the family’s allegation, Dr GR Ravindranath from Doctors’ Association of Social Equality (DASE) pointed out that the nurse was admitted to COVID-19 ward at RGGGH after being tested positive for the infection. “How can a patient who tested negative for the infection be admitted to a COVID-19 ward? The government authorities want to deny the fact to avoid giving the compensation amount. There is no other cause for her death,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, dozens of staff of the hospital, including nurses, paid tribute to Priscilla.