In a bizarre incident, a dead body of a person who was tested positive for COVID-19 was lying in a private hospital in Guwahati for more than 24 hours.

The deceased identified as Lila Kanta Basa was tested positive of the virus after his death.  He was admitted to Dispur Polyclinic on July 1 but even after several request of the family members, the hospital authority has not tested his sample for COVID-19.

After his health deteriorates, his swab samples have been collected on July 7 but he succumbed to the disease on July 8. His results came out positive after his death.

The family members are now in dilemma for the last rites of Basa as they cannot perform the same without the permission of the district administration but even after repeated approach to the administration regarding his last rites rituals, they have not taken any step and the hospital authority has also denied any help to the family.

However, allegations have been made against the hospital that the authority sought hundreds of hand-gloves and 4-5 PPE kits daily without conducting any COVID-19 tests.

Now the family members have also not been able to test for the disease without performing the last rites.