Maharashtra: Four deaths, rising cases bring spotlight on Yavatmal administration

YAVATMAL: The increasing number of Covid cases, death of four corona-positive patients, and one suicide by a youth in quarantine have caused concern among citizens, particularly in rural Yavatmal. Questions have also been raised about the management of quarantine centres.
A woman and a youth died on May 30. The woman hailed from Nagapur of Umarkhed and the youth from village Aarambhi of Digras.The youth breathed his last on his way back from Ghatkopar (Mumbai) to his native village. Both funerals were performed at Yavatmal. The third death was of a truck driver from Wadala Road of Nashik, who was found dead in his truck at Ner on June 1.
The fourth death was reported on Tuesday from Sadhu Nagar of Mudhana in Mahagaon tehsil of Yavatmal. The deceased was a jeweller, who died within 24 hours of his admission in the isolation ward of GMC Yavatmal.
The fifth victim was a youth who returned from Pune and was housed in institutional quarantine at a primary school in his village Gonduburada, under Maregaon police station. The youth left the centre without anyone noticing it, and hanged himself from a tree. Nobody even cared to take his swab and get a test report, so his Covid status is not known.
Also, the district has 38 active positive patients in the isolation ward of GMC, of whom 18 tested positive on Tuesday only. Thirteen of them are from the family of the deceased woman from Nagapur.
The woman, her husband and their son came to the village on May 19 from Jogeshwari (Mumbai) along with 27 others. Her husband also tested positive and is now in the isolation ward of GMC. Though they were kept in institutional quarantine, the woman freely moved out and reportedly attended a wedding ceremony in the village.
After she tested positive, authorities made a high risk contact list of 45 others, making for a total of 72 people who were in contact with her (27 in Mumbai and 45 from her village). All of them are now in institutional quarantine.
There have been allegations of neglect by the administration in most cases. The truck driver should not have been allowed to drive from Nashik to Ner. A Covid-19 positive patient was allowed to travel over 900km to Yavatmal, and died on the way.
The woman from Nagapur and the jeweller of Mudhana in Mahagaon died within 24 hours of admission in the isolation ward of GMC.
In Nagapur woman’s case, the former sarpanch and other seniors in the village had even lodged a complaint with SDO Umarkhed. They had brought it to his notice that there was no supervision or vigil over the people in institutional quarantine, but things did not improve.
Of the 18 positive cases on Tuesday, 17 are from Umarkhed and one from Ner tehsil. Of 85 swab samples sent to the lab, 84 were received, of whom 18 are positive, 57 are negative and 9 were inconclusive and referred again for second opinion.