Odisha asks hospitals to avoid COVID tests after patients’ death

The Odisha government has asked both state-run and private hospitals to avoid conduct of coronavirus tests on the bodies of patients dying while undergoing treatment for non-COVID ailments, an official said on Wednesday.

The directive was prompted by incidents of relatives and neighbours abstaining from funerals of people testing positive for the infection after their death, he said.

The Health and Family Welfare Department, in a notification issued on Tuesday, asked the hospitals to avoid undue delay in releasing patients’ bodies to prevent harassment of bereaved family members.

The department has also directed all hospitals treating COVID-19 patients to submit the death report along with the copy of bedhead tickets, investigation reports and coronavirus test status to the Director of Health Services, Odisha within 48 hours of the death of a patient for a state- level death audit.- PTI