Magan Baraiya – an assistant sub-inspector (ASI) in India’s Surat district – died on June 14, 2020, after he was discharged from New Civil Hospital (NCH) in Surat.
The family of the first Covid-19 casualty of Surat police says no test was conducted on the deceased ASI before he was discharged from hospital, reported The Indian Express.
Baraiya was deployed at Bhagal Cross road in Surat and was taken to NCH on May 30, after he reported fever, cough and cold.
A Home Guard posted with Baraiya had tested positive and was undergoing treatment. Baraiya was also tested and his results came positive on May 31.
He underwent treatment for 10 days and was discharged from the hospital on June 9. “We were happy, welcomed him back home, but maintained social distancing. He was advised 10 days of home quarantine but his condition deteriorated on June 11 and was admitted to NCH again… Then we came to know that no Covid test was conducted before he was discharged from the hospital. If a test was done, he would have been still under treatment and his life would have been saved. Doctors are not saying anything clearly,” said Bharatbhai Baraiya, the deceased ASI’s elder brother.
On June 13 evening, the ASI tested positive for Covid-19 again and succumbed to the infection the next day. Baraiya is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter.
The Covid-19 nodal officer in Surat, Dr KN Bhatt, claimed that health officials had followed the revised guidelines of the Centre and the Gujarat government. Bhatt said, “We have a copy of the revised guidelines of the state government which state that if a patient is asymptomatic for three to four days, no test should be conducted. So we discharged him. When he was brought to the hospital again, he had high blood sugar and pneumonia in both his lungs.”
Surat Police Commissioner RB Brahmbhatt said, “We have prepared papers for (the family’s) claim of Rs 25 lakh (compensation) as declared by the government. The medical treatment and other necessary documents have been sent to the state Home Department. Baraiya performed his duties well in the past two months and there were no complaints. This is the first death of a policeman due to Covid-19 in Surat.”
On June 14, Magan Baraiya was given a guard of honour by Surat Police in the presence of his elder brother. The body was later cremated as per Covid-19 protocol at the Ashwani Kumar Cremation centre.