Three doctors mysteriously fall from hospital windows amid coronavirus crisis
Two healthcare workers fighting coronavirus have died and a third was critically injured after reportedly falling from hospital windows in Russia amid concerns over the working conditions staff are facing.
All three incidents are under investigation by Russian authorities and have prompted widespread speculation within Russian media and on social media over the cause of their falls.
The latest incident involves ambulance doctor Alexander Shulepov, who fell from a hospital window in Voronezh over the weekend and remains in a serious condition with significant head injuries, local media outlet Vesti Voronezh reported.
Mr Shulepov claims he was forced to continue to work despite testing positive for the virus on April 22. He voiced his concerns alongside colleague Alexander Kosyakin in an online video shortly after his diagnosis, but later retracted his comments, CNN reported.
Mr Kosyakin previously stated he was concerned with the lack of PPE available to staff but was later questioned by police for allegedly spreading fake news.
He told CNN he has been left confused by what happened to Mr Shulepov.
“He felt fine, he was getting ready to get discharged from the hospital ... and all of a sudden this happened, it's not clear why and what for, so many questions that I don't even have the answer to,” he said.
The Novousmanskaya hospital denies Mr Shulepov’s claims he was forced to work once they learned of his diagnosis.
On Friday, Elena Nepomnyashchaya died after a week in intensive care in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, local television station TVK Krasnoyarsk reported.
She reportedly fell out of a window a week earlier following a meeting with health officials where they discussed turning the hospital into a coronavirus facility – a move she is said to have opposed due to fears over PPE stock levels.
Officials have denied there are any issues with the supply of protective gear.
A week earlier, Natalya Lebedeva, the head of the emergency medical service at Star City, the main training base for Russia's cosmonauts, died following a fall from a sixth-floor window in Moscow.
In a statement the hospital called her death “a tragic accident” but failed to provide further details.
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Russia’s nationwide death toll rose to above 1350 on Monday after 76 people died in the past 24 hours.
It recorded 10,581 coronavirus cases on Monday, bringing the total to 145,268, with more than half of cases and deaths in Moscow.
Russia has been in partial lockdown since the end of March to curb the spread of the virus.
President Vladimir Putin admitted last week despite ramping up production, the country had a shortage of PPE.
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