Man flies from US to India, only to die in Delhi of Covid-19

Shemin Joy,

"My oxygen mask is not working...The calling bell is not working," an exasperated Assher Aamir, who tested positive for Covid-19, was WhatsApping his brother Arsalan Ahmer standing outside a government hospital in south Delhi on Sunday morning.

Two hours later, Arsalan got another call, but not from his brother, and the caller said, the 37-year-old father of a two-and-half-year-old daughter and an eight-month-old son was no more.

"My brother just came from the United States to die here?" asks cousin Fouziya Siddique as the family residing in east Delhi's Narayan Nagar trying to come to terms with the death, which they allege is due to gross medical negligence.

Assher, who was settled in New Jersey, had landed in Delhi on April 11 to fly back later with his wife and two children but he contracted Covid-19. His parents also tested positive.

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Unlike hundreds of Delhiites who are scrambling for hospital beds, Assher, who was vaccinated in the US, managed to get admission but it did not help save his life.

He was first admitted to Holy Family Hospital in Okhla from where he was shifted to ESIC hospital in the same locality. He was being taken care of at the emergency initially and then the doctors shifted him to the Covid-19 ward.

"The doctors at the ESIC told me that they are shifting him on Sunday early morning. My brother was a bit hesitant and was asking whether he would get an oxygen cylinder. It was there and he was wheeled in. I was not allowed as an attendant," Arsalan told DH.

When shifted, his oxygen level was a little above 90 and was in high spirits. At 8:08 AM on Sunday, Arsalan received the first WhatsApp message from Assher exasperatedly telling him that his oxygen mask was not working.

He wanted Arsalan to alert hospital staff and told him that the oxygen mask was not working since his shifting to the Covid-19 ward.

Arsalan tried to alert medical staff but he could not and asked his brother to press the calling bell. "Measure your oxygen level. You have to tell them. I am not allowed inside," the message by Arsalan, which was seen by DH, said.

Assher attempted to use the calling bell then told his brother that it was not working. Arsalan even nudges his brother to seek the help of another patient to alert the staff.

Around 8:47 AM, the brothers managed a WhatsApp call and that was the last time, anyone from the family spoke to Assher. His WhatsApp shows that he checked it one last time at 9:57 PM and around 11:15 AM, the family was informed that Assher had breathed his last.

"Assher would have been alive if Arsalan was allowed to stay with him. There was no medical care given to my brother. It is gross medical negligence. He did not come here to die. Why did you transfer him to Covid-19 ward? Why no care was given to him there," Fouziya says.

ESIC Hospital authorities could not be reached for their side of the story.