COVID Burial
On Saturday, my uncle had a COVID burial. Have you heard of this term before? I had multiple times before but we never experienced it in our family personally until this weekend. It was a sudden event, everything happened fast, his direct family wasn’t even able to bid goodbye, his siblings including my mother were not even able to see his face, he was sent to his grave by strangers.
My uncle who is my mother’s older brother was fixing a car machine on Wednesday this week. At two in the afternoon, he collapsed after finishing his task. He was rushed to a local government hospital in Ubay, due to the pandemic, he has to go through the protocol, swab test, which returned to be negative but there was no indication if it was a rapid test or an RT-PCR one based on his medical document.
As the hospital in Ubay can’t do anything, they advised that the patient be forwarded to Tagbilaran City. It took six hours before he was moved from that hospital due to the lack of an ambulance. He was unresponsive, he was in deep sleep.
He was sent to another government hospital, this time, a COVID hospital. The protocol is for the patient to be swabbed, RT PCR test was done but not on the day that he arrived but the next day. He was already in a comatose state, not responsive but his vitals were fine and he was in an isolation room while waiting for the results to arrive.
The next day, which was Thursday, he was still sleeping and there was dark blood coming out of his body, I can’t even picture out how that looked and I don’t even want to imagine it. He was being monitored, RT PCR test was still pending.
Then came Friday, everyone was just waiting for the results, he was not admitted, he was just in the isolation room and they were just observing his situation. It was seven in the evening when one of our cousins messaged us that the doctors were asking for approval if they should revive the patient because his vitals were not stable. I asked myself, is it not an SOP to do so? Do they need to have approval first? Isn’t it the reason why the patient was sent to the hospital in the first place? How come they are waiting for consent?
At eight that same day, my uncle was declared dead. And the hospital wanted a COVID burial even without the RT PCR results. Everyone in the family was puzzled! Why?
The hospital wanted him to be buried within 12 hours, the family had to go get a grave as soon as possible, it was eight in the evening! The hospital can’t provide a vehicle to carry the dead body, the family has to get one! Thankfully, St. Peter was available and the hospital required these persons who will transport the body should be wearing a PPE.
Our family was just left with nothing to do but follow the protocol, we can’t even do a vigil, it was like we were running after time, the hospital was like a boss demanding to do this and that. Our family’s GC was filled with so many questions we didn’t receive answers.
The immediate family was advised to go to their home and do self-quarantine although again, there was no result yet. The wife was taken by the town's MDRRM for community quarantine, she was with the husband at the isolation room so she was suspected to be COVID positive too. She wasn't able to send her husband to the grave and bid goodbye for the last time.
The dead body was transported to the town only on Saturday morning. It was seven and he was immediately buried, the family followed the vehicle which carried his coffin and in a distance, bid their farewell. It was a sad burial, no, we all didn’t like that kind of burial, we were left with heartaches and tears.
Until today, the RT PCR results are still pending, we still don’t know if he was indeed a COVID patient. There are still questions and regrets in the immediate family’s hearts. What if they sent him to a private hospital, what could have happened?
Due to the pandemic, it’s unfortunate to be in a hospital, so much more if it’s a government one in this third-world country. It’s painful to see your family and loved one just fighting for their dear life alone, COVID is an enemy we have yet to overcome. It is not just taking the lives of those who are victims but also those who are not positive of the virus because of hospitals like this.
I hate to say this but our government hospitals in Bohol are so incompetent! I am sorry but I can’t help it. There were so many loopholes, so many inconsistencies, so many errors, so many questions they can’t answer, and results arrive only after the patient is dead, this COVID test results will then just be useless!
xoxo,
momentswithmatti
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Oh my gosh that's terrible hospital service! Grabe naman yung ginawa. 😠