A 61-year-old disabled man was found crying, hugging his 90-year-old mother in a Kavala neighbourhood two days after she had passed of COVID-19.
The mother and son were diagnosed with Covid and advised to quarantine at home by the National Health Care Organization (EODY).
The son-in-law was concerned about the lack of communication and requested the police to check up on them. The police broke the door into the house and found the two left without care.
With the help of police and an ambulance, the 61-year-old man was transferred to the hospital on Saturday night.
The story was revealed by a doctor of the General Hospital in Kavala. “The disable man was hungry, dehydrated, scared and had high fever. He was crying all the time,” the doctor who was shaken by the drama posted on Facebook.
“The man was in a stage before intubation, his lungs were in very bad condition, he would hardly breathe, had high fever. And he was crying, he was weeping for hours. I think he was weeping for the loss of his mother.”
“His situation remain critical, he needs additional care due to his heavy disabilities,” the doctor wrote on Wednesday.
The Greek Federation of People with Disabilities wrote on Wednesday to Health Minister Vassilis Kikilias, calling him to to immediately investigate the incident and focus on the lack of care for people with disabilities during the pandemic.
“In a welfare state it is not allowed that the help for an adult person with heavy disability relays solely on the family,” the Federation stressed.
“The specific incident, apart from tragic, is also a blatant violation of fundamental human rights,” ESAMEA said in its letter to the Health Minister.
People on social media have slammed the Greek government for doing very little to maintain proper care for disabled people during the pandemic.