Covid-19 patient flees ambulance, caught soon .... Police used the location of his mobile to nab him; the man was found at his relative's place

Subhasish Chaudhuri, TT, 20.05.20, Barasat: A resident of Sandeshkhali in North 24-Parganas, who had tested positive for Covid-19, managed to escape from an ambulance while being taken to a hospital in Barasat on Monday night.

A few hours later on Tuesday morning, police tracked his mobile phone’s location and located him at a relative’s house in Ashoknagar from where he was taken to a hospital.

Sources in the North 24-Parganas district administration said on Tuesday that they were trying to find out persons who might had come close to the patient following his escape.

“Family members and relatives of the patient have already been quarantined, while a search for any other possible contacts has begun,” an official said.

Sources in the district administration said on Monday evening, the young driver of private ambulance service in Sandeshkhali had tested positive for Covid-19. Immediately,a team of health workers visited his home in the evening and put him into an ambulance headed to a dedicated Covid hospital in the Kadambagachi area of Barasat town.

“The youth fled around 7pm when the ambulance stopped for a break in the Pirgacha area of Taki road. But the driver and attendant did not realise this until the ambulance reached Barasat,” said an official.

The health authorities had immediately informed police, who began a search and alerted all nearby police stations.

“Within a few hours, the youth was located at his relative’s home in Ashoknagar," officials added.

Police officers in Barasat confirmed the account of events, saying that the patient had escaped when the driver had stopped to use the restroom. “The driver did not notice the patient’s escape,” said an officer.

“Eventually, the police spotted his mobile phone’s location in Ashokenagar later in the night. Sleuths combed the area and helped to trace him out from a relative’s home. The relative appeared to be ignorant about the Covid positive diagnosis”, an officer of the North 24-Parganas district Covid management cell said.