The first Palms Geriatric Home resident to contract COVID-19 has been identified as Buneshwar Ramdeholl, a carpenter who formerly lived in Berbice.
Ramdeholl, who succumbed at the Georgetown Public Hospital within a day of being hospitalised, became the country’s tenth COVID-19 fatality. A second person later died after contracting the virus at the home, while a number of others were infected.
A relative of the deceased, who asked not to be named and who identified herself only as a distant relative, told Stabroek News that she was contacted by the Palms Geriatric Home and informed about Ramdeholl’s death and asked about funeral arrangements.
However, unable to stand the cost of a funeral herself, she said she has since tried to make contact with his immediate family to inform them of his demise. As of last week she had not received a response from anyone.
The relative, who explained that she now resides where Ramdeholl formerly resided, is unaware of any information regarding who took him to the institution, where he had been bedridden.
She said she knew of a sister who would visit him at the home occasionally but had not done so in quite a while.
Stabroek News asked for contact information for the sister and children of the deceased man but the distant relative was unable to provide any and stated that the family did not speak to her and she had no information about where they are currently.
