West Bengal: 60 year old Doctor, Assistant DHS dies of COVID-19

The Sixty-year-old Dr Dasgupta was posted as assistant director health services (equipment and stores). After contracting COVID 19, was initially admitted to Beliaghata Infectious Diseases hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Salt Lake on April 18, where he succumbed to the disease.

The doctor was suffering from respiratory distress and other co-morbidities and had been on a ventilator since he was admitted to the hospital. A hospital source informed IANS that the official also had diabetes and hypertension.

The doctor's condition had deteriorated on April 25th, and he passed away the next day around 1:30 pm.

According to the IANS report, it was still not clear whether the state government would categorise his death as due to COVID 19 or because of other comorbidities. A committee of doctors formed by the government has the final say in declaring the primary cause of death of a coronavirus positive patient as due to Covid-19 disease or due to some other condition.

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Hospital sources also informed that the doctor's wife is under treatment after having contracted the virus. Furthermore, a number of employees of the Central Medical Stores have been sent on quarantine after the official tested positive for the viral disease.

Meanwhile, expressing pain at the senior doctor's death and extending condolence to the family of the doctor, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and West Bengal Doctors Forum (WBDF) issued official statements hailing his sacrifice and contribution to fighting the COVID-19 outbreak.

"We have lost Dr Biplab Kanti Dasgupta, Assistant Director, Health Services, West Bengal in the early hours of today. He was Assistant Director of Health Services, Central Medical Stores. We are deeply pained with his untimely demise," Banerjee tweeted.

In a separate tweet, the Chief Minister said Dasgupta's sacrifice "for the cause of ailing humanity will ever be in our hearts and will make our COVID warriors fight the deadly virus with even greater determination".

"My heartfelt condolence to Dr Dasgupta''s bereaved family members and colleagues," she added.

"We are deeply saddened by the news of Dr. Biplab Kanti Dasgupta, ADHS, Central Medical Store, WBHS passing away in the early hours of April 26," read a message from West Bengal Doctors Forum (WBDF).

The WBDF said: "This is the first reported death of a member of our medical fraternity, in the state, who was tested positive for COVID-19. Unfortunately, his spouse has also tested positive for Corona. Our prayers are with her and we wish her a speedy recovery."

West Bengal has reported a total of 541 COVID-19 cases so far. Of them, 18 have succumbed to the disease, according to the state health department.

The state government has constituted an audit committee of doctors which ascertains whether a patient of COVID-19 has died because of the disease or a pre-existing ailment.

According to Union health ministry, the number of COVID-19-stricken patients in the state stands at 571. Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha said on Friday that the audit panel has certified that only 18 of 57 fatalities were caused "directly due to the disease". The rest 39 deaths were caused by other severe health conditions called co-morbidities in medical parlance.

Concern over health care workers contracting the infection: WBDF

Pointing out that over the last few weeks more and more healthcare workers are diagnosed with COVID-19, the WBDF urged health and administrative authorities to "proactively look into the matter as it is a matter of grave concern". "With limited resources at disposal, we cannot afford to have a situation where the shortage of healthcare providers pose a threat to the delivery of care."

The Forum also requested the State administration to issue a separate medical bulletin daily to appraise about the condition of the healthcare workers under treatment and quarantine, reports ANI.