Mapiye’s Body Exhumed For Post Mortem, Audit Report Is Out

By Shingirai Vambe

Rusape- The much awaited report of the controversial death of Arnold Mapiye is finally out with indications that his body was exhumed soon after burial for proper procedure if one dies under such circumstances as recorded by the police.

Mapiye who was admitted at Rusape General Hospital (RGH) following Covid-19 tests at which nurses and doctors faced challenges to remove the testing swab off his nostrils which resulted for him to be taken into theatre.

The Rusape Medical Superintendent, doctor Stewart Karembo told Post On Sunday than an audit report was finally out and narrated the circumstances around the death of the now deceased.

“Mr Anold Mapiye was a patient being followed up at RGH Opportunistic Infection Clinic (OI) since March 2019 after being diagnosed of HIV and previously being on Tuberculosis treatment.

The now deceased had a history of defaulting treatment and in January 2021 he had high viral load of above 350000” said Karembo.

Upon arrival at the hospital Mapiye was not able to walk and on wheel chair complaining of headache, chest pains, difficulty in breathing and not feeding well which resulted in him being tested for Covid.

According to the report, the nurse and two doctors failed to remove the swab as the patient complained of pain and discomfort, contrary to the previous report that he was operated, Mapiye was taken into theatre room where he was sedated due to his historical condition.

The audit report states that, after the swab was pulled by the third doctor who is now being blamed for the death, Mapiye was breathing spontaneously and was kept in the theatre for 10 min before he was taken to the ward where he got a 15 minute routine check-ups.

Another source told this publication that the now deceased was able to remove his shirt while he was in the ward after the swab was removed.

The report reads “there was only one nurse monitoring more than one patient who had come from the theatre without BP machines, pulse oximeter while the hospital doesn’t have a recovery room the patient was in the ward.

Chest X-ray was not done before he went to the theatre which would have helped in the assessment of the extent of the chest problems and in conclusion the report states that the possible cause of death could be Hypoxia and or Aspiration.

Mapiye was confirmed dead after an hour and a half in the ward when the nurse had come for her 15 minute routine check-ups where she noticed that he had no pulse.

On the twist of events, Mapiye’s body was exhumed days after burial for post mortem after his close relatives failed to follow the procedure following their report as articulated in the Manica Post of February 19 2021.

According to the report, it was sudden death which will only be handled by the police for investigation processes and for the post mortem to be carried out in Harare.

A close source told Post On Sunday that close family members rejected the post mortem process citing his health condition, having known him as a sick patient and there was no need to have another report, contrary to the report in the media of them complaining to what could have caused his death.

Rusape police told this publication that close family members refused to participate in the exhumation for a post mortem to ascertain the cause of his death, “they said there is no foul play as alleged in the Newspaper and they are not sure who spoke to the media”.

Doctors who spoke to this publication said members of the public should not fear to be tested and this is the only case where a swab had lodged inside since the beginning of Covid-19 PCR testing living behind every reason to think that due to his sick condition something inside would have caused the swab to get stuck, no one knows they said.