A 75-year-old woman in Andhra Pradesh who recovered from COVID-19 returned home on Wednesday only to find that her family had cremated another body by mistake. The bizarre incident occurred in Jaggaiahpet town in the state’s Krishna district. According to local sources, the woman, identified as Girijamma from Christianpet, had tested positive for the coronavirus and was admitted to a government hospital in Vijayawada on May 12, after which her husband Gaddayya returned home. Subsequently, Gaddayya went to the hospital on May 15 to check on her condition. However, Girijamma was missing from her bed and the hospital staff told him that she may have been shifted to another ward.
Gaddayya failed to locate Girijamma even after checking all the wards in the hospital thoroughly. Finally, the hospital staff told Gaddayya to check for his wife in the mortuary. When he went there, he saw a body that resembled his wife and informed the staff, who released the body to him and issued a death certificate in her name. The family took the body home and cremated it. With the couple's son Ramesh also succumbing to COVID-19 on May 23, Gaddayya organised the final rites for Girijamma and Ramesh together on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Girijamma, who was still in the hospital, had recovered. According to reports, she wondered why no one had come to take her home and returned by herself on Wednesday. Her appearance came as a shock to Gaddayya and the rest of his family. The old couple is now grieving for their son Ramesh.
Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh recorded 12,768 new cases of coronavirus, 15,612 recoveries and 98 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, ending 9 am on Wednesday. The number of active COVID-19 cases dropped to 1.43 lakh, the latest bulletin said. The cumulative positive cases now increased to 17.17 lakh, recoveries to 15.62 lakh and deaths to 11,132, it said.
(With IANS inputs)