Four people have died within hours of developing Covid symptoms in the past 24 hours in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, triggering fear and panic in the district.
In the first case, a 28-year-old woman, was taking her mother to Lucknow for treatment after the latter developed chest-related complications on Tuesday.
She was looking for a hospital to admit her mother but before she could find one, the mother died. Her body was taken to a hospital in Lucknow, where her samples were collected. She had tested positive for Covid-19, it was later found.
Meanwhile, the woman was bringing her mother's body back to Lakhimpur Kheri early morning on Wednesday when she developed symptoms as well. She could not breathe and died in the ambulance.
In the second case, an income tax official, 42, died within hours of having fever. He had also developed a chest congestion and passed away at the government-run Covid-19 facility in Lakhimpur Kheri within an hour of admission.
In the other case, the owner of an eatery developed pneumonia, fell ill and died before he could be admitted to a hospital.
In the fourth case, a vice principal of a school, who was being treated at home for chest congestion, developed high fever and passed away at a private hospital. He had not tested positive for Covid-19.
Three brothers died
Last week, three brothers developed high fever and died without hours as their condition deteriorated before doctors at the hospital could attend to them. Their samples were collected.
"But we have not received any report. We do not know yet if my cousins died of Covid-19," a relative said, adding that "three others in the colony have died since then in exactly the same way".
The official Covid-19 death count in the district on Wednesday, remained two though. "There have been two confirmed Covid-19 deaths in the district on Wednesday," said Lakhimpur Kheri's chief medical officer, Manoj Agarwal.
Meanwhile, a senior doctor in the district said that the rapid emergence of such cases called for a detailed research. "The death of patients, even if they were Covid positive, within hours of developing symptoms, is alarming. There have been nearly a dozen such deaths so far and we need to take up the issue without delay," he said.
