‘Real’ Covid-19 patient who fled from Sylhet hospital found after two days

After two days and following plenty of confusion over a Covid-19 infected woman who fled from a hospital in Sylhet while another woman having the same name being discharged on the same day, police finally found the 'real' patient this afternoon.

After locating the patient at her maternal grandfather's house in Kakuarpar area under Sylhet Sadar upazila, she was taken to the coronavirus isolation centre of Sylhet Saheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital, said Shahadat Hossain, officer-in-charge of Airport Police Station in Sylhet.

The woman gave birth to a child at the gynae ward of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital on Wednesday and her sample was collected for Covid-19 test on suspicion.

Later on Thursday morning, her child passed away and she fled from the hospital, said Dr Himangshu Lal Roy, deputy director of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, adding that her report came back positive on Thursday night.

She had provided the wrong address to the hospital's registrar and there was another woman of the same name who was discharged formally that day which created a confusion, Dr Himangshu said.

On Friday, the wrong woman was located and brought into the hospital, where it was later confirmed that she was not the right patient and was allowed to return home, the deputy director also said.

"The credit goes to the police, as they worked hard to locate the real patient and brought her to the coronavirus isolation centre," he added.