Deceased COVID-19 patient returns home a week after cremation

In a shocking turn of events, a hospital in West Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district mistakenly declared an elderly COVID-19 patient dead and handed over the body of another patient to his relatives for cremation.75-year-old Shibdas Banerjee was admitted in Balrampur Basu Hospital on November 4 for treatment after he tested positive for Coronavirus. On November 13, the hospital informed his relatives that he succumbed to the infection and handed over a body, which was then cremated.

According to reports, a week later, while Banerjee’s ‘shraddha’ ceremony preparations were underway at his house, the hospital called up his family and informed that he is alive and has recovered from COVID-19, and the body that was given to them was of another patient. Officials said Banerjee’s family was handed over the body of another patient named Mohinimohan Mukherjee (75) due to identity mix-up. Mukherjee was also admitted to the hospital on November 4 for COVID-19 treatment but was later shifted to a facility in Barasat. Mistakenly, the hospital sent medical reports of Banerjee to the Barasat COVID-19 facility, according to a report by The Indian Express. After Mukherjee’s death, the hospital authorities, due to identity mix-up, handed over the body to Banerjee’s family after wrapping it in protective covering as per COVID-19 protocol.