New Delhi: A garbage van was used to ferry the bodies of those who died of COVID-19 in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon town, showcasing the severity of the crisis and the strain on medical and its allied systems in the state, NDTV has reported.A shocking video that emerged from Rajnandgaon shows four sanitation workers with full personal protective equipment (PPE) lifting the dead bodies and dumping them at the back of the van before ferrying them to a crematorium.When asked about the cruel manner in which bodies of patients who died of COVID-19 are being disposed off, the chief medical officer plainly said, “Arranging the vehicle is the responsibility of the Nagar Panchayat and the CMO.”Due to surging cases in Rajnandgaon and the paucity of beds and medical staff, the local press club in the town has been converted into a COVID-19 facility to treat asymptomatic patients, and 30 beds have been arranged for the same.According to ANI, Ajay Soni, the president of the press club, said a team of medical doctors has been stationed at the press club round the clock to treat patients.As Chhattisgarh has been recording over 10,000 cases a day for the past few days, the medical infrastructure in the state is struggling to cope. On Wednesday, April 14, the state recorded 14,250 new COVID-19 cases and 120 more deaths, taking the infection count to 4,86,244 and the death figure to 5,307. On Tuesday, April 13, 15,121 COVID-19 cases were reported, the highest single-day spike so far in the state.Due to rising numbers, the main government hospital in the state’s capital, Raipur, has been finding it difficult to attend to a steady stream of patients, as intensive care units and oxygen-equipped beds have been witnessing almost 100 percent occupancy for the past week.A video that emerged from the hospital recently has shown that due to lack of space in the freezers, where the dead bodies are supposed to be kept, are being kept pretty much everywhere in the hospital where space is found, depicting the state of affairs in Chhattisgarh.The state has recorded over 1.68 lakh cases and 1,417 deaths just in the last one month.
