A 46-year-old man died in Odisha on Monday after his relatives and the ambulance driver engaged in an alleged brawl that killed precious time to shift him to hospital.

Manoj Praharaj, a resident of Berhampur, around 120km from here, was suffering from fever and his relatives had called the ambulance to take him to hospital. After the ambulance arrived late, the victim’s relatives engaged in an argument with the driver. Soon after, a video was shared widely on social media attributed to Praharaj’s son pleading with the ambulance driver to take his father to the hospital immediately.

But, Ganjam collector Vijay Amruta Kulange told The Telegraph, “Only half of the story was fed to the media on social media. I have just posted the video of the total incident on my Twitter account which shows how the ambulance driver and the accompanying staff were attacked by the relatives of the patient. We need to cooperate with ambulance drivers and the medical staff. They are our Covid warriors.”

In the video posted by Kulange, it is seen that the ambulance driver was heckled by some people and later more people joined in. “The patient was finally shifted to the hospital but we request the people to cooperate with the ambulance staff. If the ambulance drivers start non-cooperating, how can we fight this battle? We request the people to support our ambulance staff and not to misbehave with them. Respect the Covid warriors,” the collector said.

Sources said Praharaj passed away at the hospital.

Asked why there was a delay in shifting Praharaj to the hospital, a relative said: “People are afraid to go to hospital because of the pandemic. They prefer treatment at home. Only when things worsen, they call an ambulance to take the patient to the hospital.”

The number of Covid-19 deaths in Ganjam district, under which Berhampur falls, stand at 82. Odisha on Monday witnessed seven more deaths due to coronavirus, taking the total number of fatalities to 147. Ganjam, the home district of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, continues to be a Covid-19 hotspot.

Ganjam, which had zero cases in the first week of May before the arrival of migrant labourers from Surat, on Sunday surpassed the 9,000 mark with 491 new Covid-19 infections detected during the last 24 hours. The total number of positive cases in the state stands at 26,892.

Director of Institute of Life Sciences, Ajay Parida, told the media on Monday: “The pandemic is at its peak in Odisha. Ganjam, Khordha and Cuttack districts have been the worst hit. Around 60 per cent of the total cases have been reported from these districts. The number of Covid-19 will be increased to 15,000 per day from August. Plans are afoot to carry out antigen tests in mobile vans.”