Police is on the lookout for nearly 30 people who attended the cremation of a Sukantanagar woman who died purportedly of a stroke but was later found to have been Covid-positive.

The lady in her 50s suffered a stroke on May 9 and was rushed to a Lake Town hospital. But alongside treatment for stroke, the doctors conducted a swab test on her to check for coronavirus.

Nonetheless the lady died on Tuesday morning and despite “stay home” orders, at least 30 people went in a procession to take her to the cremation ground.

Minutes after the rites, the lady’s son received a phone call from the hospital, asking them not to step out of their homes. Her Covid-19 test results were in and the lady had tested positive.

Panic spread like wildfire and everyone who had assembled fled. “All the relatives and neighbours ran away to their homes,” said the son. “My mother had not set foot outside the country but still contracted the disease.”

Local councillor Jaydev Naskar said they were trying to trace everyone who had gathered there that day. “Five people, including her husband and son, have been found and sent in quarantine,” he said late on Wednesday.

Sukantanagar, that lies between Chingrihata and Nicco Park, is densely populated, with two or three-storey houses standing cheek by jowl. The civic body sanitised the locality and the police has sealed off all lanes and bylanes leading to the lady’s home.

It could not be known whether the crematorium had been informed about the fiasco. The government has announced that Covid-19 casualties can be cremated only at an exclusive ground at Dhapa.

Ambulance refusal

In Sreebhumi, an elderly couple who had booked an ambulance to get themselves tested for Covid-19 were refused the ride by the driver and helper after they realised the couple were displaying classic symptoms of the disease.

The Sreebhumi couple are in their 70s and were suffering from health disorders. They suspected that they might have caught the dreaded virus and on Tuesday called a Salt Lake hospital to book an ambulance to pick them up.

The couple live on the fifth floor of a building in Lahabagan and needed help to climb down the stairs. But no sooner did the driver and the helper realise that the residents were coughing and sneezing than they backed out.

Distraught, the senior citizens called Sreebhumi Sporting Club, that sent some members over. Two of them even wore PPEs. “We carried the residents down and settled them inside the ambulance,” said a member.

Fire and emergency services minister Sujit Bose, who is the chief patron of the club, then intervened and spoke to the driver.

“The driver said they were scared for their lives so I instructed my boys to give them fresh pairs of gloves, masks, sanitiser bottles and asked them to ferry the passengers to the hospital safely,” said Bose, who also spoke to the hospital authorities to ensure a smooth sail.

The couple have been admitted but as of Wednesday night, their test reports had not come in.