Several weeks after the first death in India from the coronavirus, the mystery shrouds in the wake of mutual contradictions.
It was the last day of February, and Hussein Siddiqui had just returned from Saudi Arabia after staying a month with his son there, who’s a dental doctor in Jeddah.
In the picture, a 76-year-old Islamic scholar, and judge, seems visibly tired while receiving a bouquet from his chauffeur at Hyderabad airport.
His eldest son told the interviewer that “My father said he’s alright, and he was looking so during the week he spent along with us.”
But within ten days since he came back to India, he died. It was the first death from the coronavirus in India.
A day after he passed away, the Karnataka health department confirmed he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
However, his son maintains that “We still don’t believe he died from the COVID-19,” adding that the family has yet to receive Siddiqui’s death certificate.
In many ways, his death reflects consternation among COVID-19 patients in India.
He had complained of sickness on March 7, and the next morning the family doctor gave him the medicine for cold and cough. But Mr Siddiqui began to cough more and more, with increased temperature.
On March 9, the family took them to a private hospital where he was kept under observation for 12 hours.
From here, the simple story becomes a mystery!
On discharge note of the hospital had prescribed pneumonia, but there was no mention of COVID-19.
However, after his death, the Indian health ministry issued a statement saying that the hospital had diagnosed M Siddiqui as a COVID-19 patient.
More:
- India’s lockdown yields a substantial drop in coronavirus cases
- Coronavirus: Indian food delivery startup Swiggy cuts 1000 jobs
The statement also said that Siddiqui’s blood specimen that was sent to Bangalore for the examination had confirmed the infection.
“The patient’s relatives had insisted on checking out without awaiting test results, and took him to Hyderabad hospital,” the official statement said.
But family denies this statement, and Siddiqui’s son says, “We’ve no idea why we’re being accused of it. Why would we move our father to a distant hospital? We just did what the private hospital asked us to do.” He further said that the family has the documents to prove their veracity.
On March 10, the ailing father was taken to a night’s journey to Hyderabad, where the family took him from one hospital to another.
Then he was then led to a government hospital where they found no doctor to attend the emergency.
Siddiqui once again found himself in the ambulance, shivering with pain. He was led to another hospital where doctors observed: “the patient had been coughing and breathing heavily for two days.”
He was given paracetamol, nebulized, and admitted for further examination.
However, the family took Siddiqui away despite hospital authorities’ warning that “it could significantly harm the patient.”
But here again, the family rebuts the claim, saying, “They suggested us to take the patient back to the government hospital to conduct his corona test before bringing him back here.”
The family says, “We were too fed up that we came back to our hometown.”
“But the next morning, when we came back home, it was the time Siddiqui breathed his last.”
Contradictions
Further contradiction came along with the official report that claimed, “from the day Siddiqui showed symptom to the day of his death, he never was taken to any government hospital.”
Siddiqui’s sons say that they were informed the next day after the death of their father had become the first person in India to contract the COVID-19.”
Siddiqui’s daughter and his family doctor had also contracted the infection; both recovered.
