Bhubaneswar: Chief spokesperson of Odisha government for COVID-19 Subroto Bagchi Wednesday said that negligence on part of family members led to deaths of several senior citizens in the state who were suffering from COVID-19 infection.
Addressing a press conference Wednesday, Bagchi urged people of the state to take special care of elderly persons in their family as they have weaker immunity to fight off novel coronavirus.
Providing statistics to back his claim, the spokesperson said that Odisha recorded 24 COVID-19 related deaths till June 24 out of which novel coronavirus was the primary cause of death in 17 cases. The other seven cases died because of other underlying health ailments even though they were COVID-19 positive.
“As many as 50% of COVID-19 patients (9 persons) who died in Odisha were above 60 years in age. Out of them, 11 persons (casualties) had co-morbidities. And most importantly, six of the deaths were of such persons who had no travel history,” Subroto said.
“Members of their family had a travel history. He or she returned to Odisha and ignored the health guidelines pertaining to COVID-19. In this process, he/ she infected an elderly member of the family. It is the lackadaisical behaviour of the family members for which the six persons lost their lives,” Bagchi added.
While the younger ones were cured, the virus was transmitted to elder members of the family who could not recover and died, Bagchi added terming the carelessness on part of family members as ‘unfortunate’ and telling them that ‘home quarantine is not family reunion’.
Bagchi further explained that even when elderly persons recover from COVID-19, the virus inflicts permanent damage on the lungs of the host. Besides, COVID-19 also impacts the functioning of other vital organs of the body and urged people returning from other states to take special care while remaining in home quarantine.
