Dr Yasir Naseem ‑ a senior medical officer in the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) department at Delhi’s Fortis Escorts Heart Institute – died of Covid-19-related complications on June 21, 2020.
The 49-year-old doctor was employed at Delhi’s Fortis Escorts Heart Institute for around four years. The hospital has a Covid-19 ward, reported The Indian Express.
A senior official at the hospital reportedly said, “He stopped coming to the hospital after June 3. Since the department wasn’t aware, someone got in touch with him and he said he was sick and won’t be coming in till he’s better. The hospital stayed in touch with him.”
On June 17, Dr Naseem’s wife, also a doctor, rushed him to Fortis Escorts Heart Institute, reported Somya Lakhani of The Indian Express.
A doctor who was posted in the Covid-19 ICU at the time was quoted as saying by The Indian Express, “When he was brought to the casualty, he was not responding to oral commands, he was drowsy. He was critical. We were informed that he was diabetic. His sugar and (oxygen) saturation levels were all over the place.”
The doctor also said that Dr Naseem’s Covid-19 test was done on the day he was admitted to the hospital, which came positive. “Soon, he was put on the ventilator, and on June 21, he succumbed to the virus,” said the doctor. Dr Naseem was a resident of Jamia Nagar, and is survived by his wife, a gynaecologist. Of his two brothers, one is a dentist in Delhi, and the other is a doctor in the US.
Dr Naseem’s friend, Dheeraj Kumar, told The Indian Express, “He was a large-hearted man. He participated in several health camps annually where he would give free consultation to heart patients who came from economically weaker sections. He would get their health check-up done, their ECG too.”