Third Russian medic falls from window in last two weeks amid raging COVID-19 pandemic
Aleksander Shulepov, a first responder from Voronezh region, who had previously complained about the lack of protection against coronavirus, fell from the second-floor window of the Novousmansky District hospital in Voronezh region, Vesti reported.
Shortly before that, he was diagnosed with COVID-19. According to the newspaper, the medic with a fractured skull base is in a life-threatening condition in intensive care.
In April, together with his colleague, paramedic Alexander Kosiakin, Shulepov recorded a video in which he spoke about the lack of protection when dealing with patients and that he was forced to work even after he was tested positive for COVID-19. On April 22, Kosiakin was summoned to the police, where he was threatened with a criminal case "for spreading false information about the coronavirus."
Two days later, Shulepov, already in the hospital, released a new video in which he refuted his own claims about the lack of protective equipment and said that he was "emotional” when he recorded it.
Last Saturday, April 25, the acting head of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Hospital for War Veterans, Elena Nepomniachtchi, fell from the fifth-floor window. Despite the attempts of her colleagues to save her, she passed away a week later. The cause of the tragedy has not yet been determined. According to the available information, the incident occurred during a conference call to discuss the reprofiling of one of the hospital's buildings for the admission of patients with COVID-19.
The day before the incident in Krasnoyarsk, the head of the ambulance service of Zvyozdny Gorodok (Star City) fell from the window of a hospital in the south of Moscow. She was diagnosed with COVID-19. The woman died at the scene from her injuries. According to the newspaper Moskovskij Komsomolets, the deceased was one of the medics who organized transportation of coronavirus-infected residents of Zvyozdny Gorodok. Her superiors subsequently accused her of not providing proper protection for staff, which led to the infection of several of her colleagues. The circumstances of her death were never revealed.