A 76-year-old Indian woman, who was believed to be dead after testing positive for COVID-19, shocked her family members when she woke up minutes before her own cremation, local media reported.
The woman, identified as Shakuntala Gaikwad from Baramati, tested positive for coronavirus last week.
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After her condition deteriorated, family members drove her to Silver Jubilee Hospital on May 10 but were unable to secure a bed for her because all the wards were full due to rising cases and desperate need for oxygen.
While they anxiously waited outside in a private vehicle, the woman became unconscious, leading the family to believe she had passed away.
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The family took her back home and started preparing for cremation, but just before the funeral bier was about to be set alight, Gaikwad opened her eyes and began crying, according to India Today.
Police officer, Santosh Gaikwad confirmed the incident occurred in Mudhale village.
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The woman was taken back to the hospital for further treatment, Dr. Sadanand Kale, the founder of Silver Jubilee Hospital, told India Today. Her current condition is not known.
India is still in the midst of a devastating second coronavirus wave. It is reporting record-breaking new cases and deaths every other day as people are struggling to find hospital beds, oxygen, or medical treatment.
On Saturday, the country reported roughly 326,000 new infections over the past 24 hours, the smallest daily rise for more than two weeks. However, the daily reported death toll remained steady at 4,000.
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India’s rapidly rising infection rate has overwhelmed hospitals, particularly in rural areas with limited access to health care facilities.
The country has reported more than 24 million cases and more than 270,000 deaths so far, according to a tracker by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say actual numbers could be five to 10 times higher.
Meanwhile, Police have started patrolling Ganges after citizens began disposing of bodies in the trans-boundary river, according to a government official.
“We keep recovering 10 to 20 bodies every now and then,” said Navneet Sehgal, a spokesperson for Uttar Pradesh, a state in northern Indian with about 200 million residents.
