2 Thane hospitals fined Rs 16 lakh

Mumbai: Two designated Covid-19 hospitals in Thane district in Maharashtra were fined Rs 1 lakh per patient for violation of regulations laid down by the state government. The hospitals had to pay Rs 16 lakh as fine.

In another report, a person who had recently returned to Meghalaya from Maharashtra tested positive for the novel coronavirus, taking the number of Covid-19 cases in the state to 34.

Thane Municipal Corporation officials said they had "zero Covid-19 death day" for Thane city though 124 fresh cases during the day took the cumulative total to 3,919 today.

Meanwhile, hospital's negligence over releasing a patient's body before the arrival of its COVID-19 test result has left hundreds of people at risk in Mumbai even as India's economic capital struggles to defeat the fast spread of the deadly coronavirus.

The Cardinal Gracious Hospital in Mumbai's Vasai area handed over the body of a man, who passed away , to his family without waiting for the COVID-19 test report. He was cremated on the same day with nearly 500 people in attendance for his last rites.

The next morning, the hospital informed the family that the deceased had tested positive for COVID-19, and panic ensued. However, over 40 people, who were identified as high-risk contacts, were immediately quarantined.

According to the protocol, bodies are to be tested for coronavirus before they are released for cremation to the kin to prevent further spread of the disease.