Vinod Singh, a resident of Lakhisarai, was referred to Patna after testing positive for Covid.
A retired soldier suffering from Covid died without any treatment at a hospital in Bihar today, as the hospital authorities were busy preparing for the visit of the state health minister Mangal Pandey. Vinod Singh died in the vehicle he was brought to the Nalanda Medical College and Hospital. The authorities did not admit him despite his family's repeated requests.
"My father was COVID positive. Other hospitals refused to admit him, NMCH hospital agreed. They made us wait outside for one-and-a-half hours," the patient's son was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Vinod Singh, a resident of Lakhisarai -- 120 km from Patna -- was referred to the state capital after testing positive for Covid a few days ago.
His son, Abhimanyu Kumar, said they brought him to Patna on Monday evening and took him to the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences. But the doctors there refused to admit him as there were no beds available. So he was taken to a private nursing home, where he was admitted for a few hours.
Around 10 am on Tuesday, they went to the Nalanda Medical College. But at the hospital, everyone was busy with the proposed inspection by the health minister.
Asked to comment on the callousness of doctors and the hospital staff, Mr Pandey, who nowadays shuttles between Bengal and Bihar, said: "We try our best to provide medical care to all and we feel very sorry whenever someone dies like this".
"Such an incident is unfortunate. For some days, number (of cases) has increased in hospitals. Efforts are being made to improve the health facilities," Mr Pandey was quoted as saying by ANI.
Over the last 24 hours, Bihar has logged more than 4000 fresh infections, pushing up the total to over 41,000. Currently there are around 25,000 active cases.