2 April 2020 12:14 am
It was revealed that female patient had fever which later developed into pneumonia
By Ranjith Karunaweera
A death caused by respiratory ailment sent panic among the people in Mahiyangana yesterday as they had mistaken the death was caused by COVID-19.
It was a false alarm, as the postmortem confirmed the death was not caused by COVID-19.
Panicking was the order of the day, when it was revealed that female patient has had fever which developed into pneumonia.
He remains were brought to the cemetery for last rights by the police and the health officials to perform the last rights as prescribed by the authorities, but large crowds who were gathered at the cemetery prevented cremation.
The authorities were forced to cancel the last rights and a postmortem was ordered.
Meanwhile, the functions of the Mahiyangana hospital ground to a halt, as the Judicial Medical Officer and other staff were not able to carry out their duties due to the panic which prevailed there.