Lucknow: Balrampur hospital ex-head tests Covid-19 positive hours after death

LUCKNOW: Prominent neurosurgeon and former director of Balrampur Hospital Dr Shyam Swaroop (78), who was suffering from kidney ailment since 2015, died early Friday morning at his Aishbagh residence.
His report of Covid-19 test carried out by a private lab, which arrived hours after his death, turned out to be positive for novel coronavirus infection.

With this, Covid-19 toll in the city has gone up to five with four patients dying in past 15 days.All the victims were elderly with comorbidity.
The sorrow and agony of the family was compounded when Dr Swaroop’s only son, Prof Suchit Swaroop, a faculty at Lucknow University’s zoology department, came to know that he, too, was Covid-19 positive.
Hours after performing the last rites of Dr Swaroop, Suchit got admitted to SGPGIMS for treatment as advised by health authorities.
The only relief for the family was that Suchit’s mother, also a doctor and currently a consultant for National Health Mission, tested negative for the infection. However, the family has been asked to stay in home-quarantine till further orders. Suchit’s wife and daughter will be also tested.
Talking to TOI over the phone from SGPGIMS, Suchit said: “My father had fever for last three days. He had been taking medication for blood pressure, diabetes and kidney problem. He was feeling extremely weak on Thursday morning and wasn’t even able to stand. We had to help him till the washroom.”
“By the evening, he got more sluggish and drowsy and went to sleep early. I too had fever on Tuesday but it subsided the next day. Since we were to take him to SGPGIMS the next day for nephrology treatment, I got him and myself tested for novel coronavirus from a private lab on Thursday,” he said.
According to the family, Dr Swaroop passed away around 2:10am while his report came at 10am. By that time, about 15 people, including Dr Swaroop’s two brothers and a sister had reached the house to condole his death. The family asked everyone to leave. They got the body covered in a plastic bag as per Covid-19 safety protocol.
“He used to work with the Red Cross Society after retirement. As soon as the report came, Red Cross workers took over and sealed the body. They were in protective gear themselves. Everyone was then sanitized and four people who shouldered the body were also given protective suits,” Suchit said.
Spokesperson to the chief medical officer (CMO), Yogesh Raghuvanshi, said audit would confirm the exact cause of the death.
Dr Swaroop served as director of Balrampur Hospital from 1999 till his retirement in 2001. He was the first neurosurgeon of Balrampur Hospital and was MS in general surgery as well as neurosurgery. A condolence meet was held at Balrampur Hospital for the departed soul.