Newborn Dies After Swab Collection, Mother Files Complaint Against Hospital

Agartala: A woman, who lost her three-day old baby shortly after swab sample was taken for COVID-19 test, has filed a police complaint accusing doctors at the hospital of negligence.

The mother has stated that the baby was healthy till his swab sample was collected. Thereafter, he started bleeding from the nose. The doctors assured the family that he would be alright, but the baby died after sometime.

The tragedy took place on August 12, but the complaint was filed a fortnight later.

“The incident happened earlier this month. We have started investigation under Section 157 CrPc,” said Subimal Barman, officer in-charge of New Capital Complex police station in Agartala.

He informed that the woman had tested positive for coronavirus after being admitted to the state-run Govind Ballabh Panth (GBP) hospital. After her delivery, doctors wanted to test the newborn also for the virus, hence swab sample was being taken.

The woman filed the complaint after being discharged from the hospital on testing negative.

The state government has constituted a three-member team for a departmental inquiry into the baby’s death.

Tripura has so far reported 9,927 positive case, of which 6,839 have recovered. The number of deaths in the north-eastern state due to the pandemic is 89.