In a shocking incident, a family in Kolkata was forced to keep the body of a 71-year-old man in an ice cream freezer for two days as doctors refused to issue death certificate without COVID-19 test result.

As per reports, on June 29, the man went to the doctor as he experienced difficulty in breathing. He was told by the doctor to take a COVID-19 test. As the senior citizen returned home, his condition deteriorated and he died at around 3 pm.

A doctor visited the deceaseds apartment wearing a PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) suit. The doctor refused to issue a death certificate and asked the family to get in contact with the health department or police. The police directed the family to a local councillor, who, however, did not respond.

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A family member of the deceased told PTI that the family members made several calls to the helpline given to them but they did not get any response. The family contacted mortuaries but officials there refused to help after hearing the circumstances of the man’s demise. Since all the calls went unanswered, on June 30 morning, the family decided to preserve the body, which was rapidly decomposing in the heat, inside an ice-cream freezer. The same evening, test reports of the man came back positive for the virus.

?Even after getting the test reports, we kept on contacting the state health department but there was no response. During the morning hours of July 1, health department finally called up and set the process in motion for removing the body for last rites, the family member said.