'No arrangement for water', 'no care', 'shift me': Hospitalised COVID-19 patient films video before dying

Jhansi: Weeks after a video of a 26-year-old COVID-19 victim alleging medical apathy at a Hyderabad hospital went viral on social media, a similar incident has come to light from a state-run COVID-19 facility in Jhansi city of Uttar Pradesh. A COVID-19 patient, before succumbing to the infection on Monday, recorded a heart-wrenching video alleging “total negligence” and inadequate facilities at Jhansi Medical College and Hospital, where he was admitted after he tested positive for Coronavirus.

The 52-second long video shows the now-deceased patient struggling while breathing and wearing clothes apparently 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," a report by NDTV quoted the man as saying in the video. However, the time gap between the filming of the video and the patient’s death is not known.

Meanwhile, GK Nigam, Jhansi's Chief Medical Officer (CMO) stated the deceased patient’s wife and daughter have also been diagnosed with COVID-19 infection, but they are asymptomatic. They are being administered treatment at another facility in the city, he added. However, the CMO refused to react to the accusations of medical apathy made by the man in the video.

Last month, a 26-year-old COVID-19 patient, admitted in Government Chest Hospital in Hyderabad, sent a selfie video to his father minutes before his death. In the video, the now-deceased patient can be heard saying that he is struggling to breathe because the doctors had allegedly taken off the ventilator support.

He also alleged that for the last three hours, the staff had been ignoring his requests to provide oxygen support. The man succumbed after saying “bye daddy, by all”.