Three children at Chhattisgarh quarantine centres pass away in the past 48 hours, officials blame 'heat and overcrowding'

Three children at different quarantine centres in Chhattisgarh have passed away in the past 48 hours.

Officials said two of the deaths were caused by asphyxiation while the children were being fed and attributed it to a combination of heat and overcrowding at quarantine centres, Indian Express reported. All the three were children of migrant workers who had returned to the state after the lockdown was eased, as per the report.

State health Minister T  Singh Deo told the newspaper “strict action” would be taken if any “lapses” were found at the centres but added that “the system is overburdened with the number of returning migrants”.

Representational image. AP

A one-and-a-half-year-old girl who was at a quarantine centre in Pendra's Tikarkala passed away. The infant's father had come from Bhopal and was later shifted to a quarantine centre. He was working at a factory in Bhopal. However, the infant and her mother were living at their residence in Chhattisgarh's Devargaon village.

Damini, the mother of the infant, alleged that she was not allowed to take water from the hand pump in the village. Later, she, along with the child, went to the quarantine centre to live with her husband.

"My husband came from Bhopal. He was shifted to the quarantine centre in Tikarkala. I was advised not to come out of my house and even not allow us to take water from the pump. They used to call us 'corona'. My husband was tested COVID-19 negative," Damini told ANI.

Pooran Singh, father of the infant said, "I worked in a tobacco factory in Bhopal. Our factory was shut down due to lockdown. I came to Bilaspur via train from Bhopal. I fled from the quarantine centre. Later, the sarpanch and other district administration officials sent me back to the quarantine centre in Tikarkala."

"My wife told me that she is not being allowed to take water in the village. After two to three days, they came to Tikarkala. My child's health condition deteriorated. She had fever and died on Thursday," he added.

Ashok Vategawakar, sub-divisional officer of police (SDOP) said, "After he came from Bhopal, he was quarantined in Tikarkala. During quarantine, the child died today."

Abhimanyu Singh, doctor at the district hospital, said that the post-mortem report of the child showed that her windpipe was blocked due to hiccup.

"Damini breastfed her child today at the quarantine centre. The child was healthy until then. Later, the child fainted. A doctor and ambulance were sent to the quarantine centre. When the child reached the hospital, she was declared brought dead. I intimated the police. During the post-mortem report, we found gastric content in the windpipe. Her windpipe was blocked due to hiccup," he said.

In a separate incident, a four-month-old at a quarantine centre in Balod district's Tenga, passed away. Yogeshwar Nishad, brother of the infant's father said, "My brother came back from Chandrapur on 14 May and his family was quarantined in school. The child was not well. We admitted the child to Balod district hospital."

"The hospital administration was reluctant to admit the child. For several hours, the doctors did not attend the child," he added. Uttam Sahu, Sarpanch, Gram Panchayat Tatenga said, "A family from Chandrapur entered Tatenga village. They were kept at a quarantine centre. On 24 May, the child complained of fever. On 27 May, was referred to the district hospital. Today, the child passed away. I also got to know that the doctors did not attend the child."

In Kabirdham, a three-month-old girl, who was living at a quarantine centre, died in the district hospital. "On 11 May, the child's family came from Nagpur. The child was weak. On 25 May, she complained of fever. There were around 85 people in that quarantine centre. She was brought to the hospital. On 27 May  morning, the child was not showing any signs of life. Later, the doctors confirmed that the child was dead," said Chief Medical Health Office (CHMO) SK Tiwari.

With inputs from ANI