Omicron latest updates: India steps up operation to detect new variant
Two Indian families have been forced to relive the trauma of losing their loved ones to Covid-19 after they discovered their bodies had not been cremated but were rotting in a hospital mortuary for a year-and-a-half.
Muniraju, 67, and Durga Sumithra, 40, succumbed to the coronavirus in July 2020 — at the peak of India's devastating first wave of infections — while undergoing treatment at a government-run hospital in Bangalore city in southern Karnataka state.
As the number of cases in India surged and a deluge of Covid-infected patients overwhelmed the country's healthcare system, municipal corporations and hospitals took over the cremation of victims.
Citing a risk of infection, the authorities did not hand over the bodies of Muniraju and Sumithra to their families, who were informed that the bodies had been cremated by hospital and municipal staff.
The families received a shock this week when police informed them that a housekeeping staff found the decomposed bodies while cleaning the hospital’s old mortuary.
“We got a call from the police and were told that my father-in-law’s body was in the mortuary. It was shocking because we were told that his body was cremated and we had been even given a death certificate by the hospital,” said Sathish Kumar, 48, Muniraju’s son-in-law.
“We were shattered by his death last year but finding his body in a rotten state is beyond painful,” Mr Kumar told The National.
For Sumithra’s elder sister Sujhata, the development has been devastating.
Sujhata said her sister was sick for days and, after a frantic search, found a hospital bed on June 28. She died four days later.
Sumithra had lost her husband to liver failure in 2019 and was living with her two teenage daughters who moved in with Sujhata when she went into hospital.
“I couldn’t even see her body last year and now we have found her rotten body. She ... was severely ill but we couldn’t get a bed easily,” said Sujhata, 50.
“They told us they can’t give us her body because it can infect us and now after 16 months, we found her rotten body. Her two daughters are in disbelief,” she told The National.
The families have voiced their dismay over the negligence but are yet to file an official complaint, police said.
“We have launched an investigation into the case. A postmortem and other legal formalities were completed and the bodies were handed over to the families for cremation," said Prashant, a police officer at Rajajinagar Police Station, Bangalore.
"The families are yet to file an official complaint with us,” he told The National.
Worldwide response to Omicron - in pictures
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Indian students apply the finishing touches to paintings created to raise awareness of the variant in Mumbai. Reuters -
International travellers wearing personal protective equipment arrive at Melbourne's Tullamarine Airport as Australia records its first cases of the Omicron variant. AFP -
A greeting at the international terminal of Sydney Airport, as countries respond to the new variant. Reuters -
A sign asking people to wear face coverings in a building in Manhattan as the newly discovered Omicron variant appears in countries around the world. AFP -
Tourists wave as the ‘Europa’ passenger liner arrives in South African waters off Cape Town as the new coronavirus variant Omicron spreads in other countries. Reuters -
Schiphol airport in Amsterdam. Dutch health authorities said they have found another case of the Omicron Covid-19 variant among passengers arriving from South Africa, bringing the country’s total to 14. AFP -
Pupils wear face masks in Beijing. Despite the global worry, scientists say it remains unclear whether the Omicron variant is more dangerous than other strains of the virus. AP -
People wearing face masks in Manhattan. New York's governor has declared a state of emergency due to the risk of a surge of Covid-19 cases as winter sets in. AFP -
British Health Secretary Sajid Javid meets a member of staff at a vaccine centre in Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital, London. Getty Images -
A sign points the way to a Covid-19 test centre at Schiphol Airport in the Netherlands. AFP -
Narita International Airport in Japan is quiet after travel was restricted to prevent the spread of Omicron. Reuters -
A PCR test at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. AFP -
Soekarno Hatta International airport. Indonesia has banned the arrival of travellers who have recently been in eight southern African countries. Reuters -
Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok after Thailand banned entry from eight southern African countries due to the Omicron variant. Reuters -
Travellers wear personal protective equipment outside the international terminal at Sydney Airport, Australia. Reuters -
Passengers wearing protective gear at Incheon International Airport in South Korea, where health authorities have imposed an entry ban on foreign arrivals from eight African countries, including South Africa. EPA -
Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv. The Israeli government approved a 14-day ban on foreign arrivals over concerns about Omicron. EPA -
Travellers queuing in the hope of boarding an overbooked Lufthansa flight at Cape Town International Airport. Antonie Robertson / The National -
Covid-stricken Czech President Milos Zeman sits in a plastic cage as he appoints Petr Fiala as Prime Minister, near Prague. AFP -
Tourists checking in at Cape Town International Airport in South Africa. Antonie Robertson / The National -
Several airlines have stopped flying out of South Africa amid the spread of the new variant, causing disruption at O.R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg. Reuters -
Australian Health Minister Greg Hunt at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Two cases of the recently discovered Omicron variant were detected in New South Wales. EPA -
Passengers, many not wearing face coverings, on the London Underground. Health Secretary Sajid Javid said mandatory mask-wearing would return to shops and public transport in England but there are concerns over how the rule will be enforced. AFP -
A stroll, with face masks, in Biarritz, south-western France. French Health Minister Olivier Veran said France had no confirmed cases of the Omicron variant and was not changing its strategy of increasing vaccinations and booster shots. AP -
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty during a press conference on the variant in London. Reuters
