Netherlands: Family disputes test results after death

By Abdullah Asiran

ROTTERDAM (AA) - A Turkish woman in the Netherlands died at a nursing home of “suspected COVID-19” but her family is challenging that assessment.

The family of Sahinde Ayten, 64, said it received initial test results that indicated she tested negative and is upset it missed the chance to say goodbye.

Serife Ayten told Anadolu Agency her mother did not have symptoms of the virus but was treated as such and her body was sent to Turkey before her family had a chance to see her.

The elder Ayten was receiving treatment at a Hauge nursing home for heart disease but her family was not allowed to visit.

“My mother came to nursing in the Hague from Tilburg because it was closer to us. We were not able to visit her due to the restrictions caused by coronavirus. Doctors called us on Saturday night and said she had trouble breathing and receiving oxygen. And they called three to four hours later and said she died,” said the younger Ayten.

“The first coronavirus case in the Netherlands was confirmed in Tilburg. They should have tested her before but they did not. Because she was not showing any symptoms. Her disease was known, she did not have COVID-19,” said Ayten.

“They wrote ‘suspected coronavirus’ on her death report. Her body was put in a plastic bag and sent to Turkey without us. We could not say goodbye. My dad could not say goodbye.

“If they had tested her before, or the test results came early, we could have a chance to say her goodbye,” she added.

The virus, which emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has now spread to 180 countries and regions.

More than 981,000 cases have been reported worldwide, with the death toll eclipsing 50,200 but an excess of 204,000 recoveries.