A social activist and two others have moved the Bombay High Court over the plight of patients in Maharashtra's Jalgaon district, and sought an inquiry into the death of an 82-year-old woman COVID-19 patient, who was found dead in the toilet of a civil hospital there.

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In a PIL filed before the Aurangabad bench of HC last week, they also urged the court to ensure action against the civil hospital's dean and administrative head for alleged negligence, that led to the woman's death, whose body was found in the toilet.

The petitioners, an activist and Jalgaon residents, also sought Rs 50 lakh compensation for the woman's kin and better COVID care facilities in the district. The woman, who went missing from the Jalgaon Civil Hospital on June 2, was found dead eight days later in the toilet of the medical facility. In their plea, filed through the advocate, both of them said they witnessed the lack of adequate facilities in the district as they lost their spouses to coronavirus.

Their PIL claimed that as per official records, the mortality rate in Jalgaon is the highest in Maharashtra and "four times the national average". They alleged that the condition has worsened over the last few weeks, mainly because of "utter mismanagement of the civilhospital, lack of adequate medical facilities and negligence of the hospital authorities and the district administration".

The civil hospital is the only government medical facility in the district and has been dedicated for the treatment of COVID-19 patients. While the hospital lacks trained staff to handle COVID-19 patients, resulting in much negligence and higher rate of mortality, the non-coronavirus patients are also suffering since they now have to travel to another hospital located 17 km away from Jalgaon city, the PIL said. While the number of COVID-19 cases in Jalgaon was 331 on May 21, it rose to 1,540 on June 12, it said.

"Patients are left to fend for themselves,and besides the lack of doctors and trained medical staff, the hospital also lacks adequate nursing staff to keep a watch, provide medicines and take care of the continuous needs of a patient," the advocate said.

The petitioners have urged the court to direct an inquiry into the woman's death, and also into all other deaths of COVID-19 patients and negligence at the civil hospital. They have also sought that the state authorities be directed to set up a task force to guide the civil hospital administration on treating COVID-19 patients, and on following protocols and guidelines issued by ICMR and the Union Ministry of Health for setting up COVID wards and ICUs. The PIL is likely to come up for hearing later this week.