An 85-year-old woman who is believed to have died of coronavirus surprised employees and relatives when she returned to her nursing home nine days after being told she had been buried, a Spanish newspaper reported on Sunday.
After a misunderstanding of identification, Rogelia Blanco’s family was informed that the retiree died of COVID-19 on January 13. Her funeral was held the following day, but due to coronavirus protocols, the family was unable to attend.
However, the following Saturday, Blanco returned in good shape and healthy to the nursing home in Xove, in northern Spain, where he lived.
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Her husband, Ramón Blanco, also a resident, explained to the La Voz de Galicia newspaper his overwhelming relief at seeing her.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was crying after my wife’s death,” he said.
In fact, it was a patient who shared Blanco’s room and who had died. According to the San Rosendo Foundation, which manages the unit, the error occurred when 11 residents were transferred on December 29 to the Os Gozos residence in Pereiro de Aguiar, 139 miles from Xove.
The company was using the site as a treatment center for patients with COVID, with transportation supervised by an ambulance service attached to the local hospital in Burela.
“Among the transferred elderly were two women who were assigned to the same room,” said the foundation. “An identification error during the process of transferring from Xove to Pereiro de Aguiar led to the death of one of them certified on January 13, although the identity was wrongly assigned.”
A funeral was held the following day, with the case of an identity error going unnoticed, as coronavirus restrictions prohibited funerals with an open coffin, reducing the opportunity for anyone to rectify the error.
The foundation said it regrets the “unfortunate incident”.
“This is a unique event, among more than 100 transfers made since last December to Os Gozos”, he added.
A court has been informed and will reverse the administrative error associated with denouncing Blanco’s death, the statement said. The foundation did not immediately respond to Newsweekrequest for comment from.
The foundation also explained that it “reinforced” the practices of monitoring patients after the accident, in addition to informing the families involved about the mistake that occurred.