Three Russian doctors 'fall from hospital windows after warnings about coronavirus'

Three doctors in Russia who raised concerns about the working conditions on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic have fallen out of hospital windows over the last two weeks, it has been reported.

Two of the health workers have died, while one remains in hospital, CNN reports.

Dr Alexander Shulepov, 37, is in a serious condition after falling from the second floor of the Novousmanskaya hospital where he was being treated for Covid-19, according to Russian media.

He was hospitalised on the same day he and his colleague Alexander Kosyakin shared a video online claiming that Mr Shulepov had been forced to continue working after testing positive for coronavirus.

However, the hospital denied the allegation in a statement to CNN, saying the doctor had been taken off shift after sharing the news of his diagnosis.

In the video, posted on April 22, Mr Kosyakin said: "Ambulance doctor Alexander Shulepov is next to me, he is just confirmed Covid-19. The chief doctor is forcing us to work, what do we do in this situation?

"We are not leaving the shift. Myself and Alexander have been working together for a month. This is the situation. Everyone says it’s fake (but) these are real facts for you."

Mr Kosyakin later told CNN: "[Shulepov] is an intensive care unit, as far as I know in a serious condition, last time I spoke to him was on April 30, we checked in with each other.

"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."

The Novousmanskaya hospital said in a statement to CNN that Mr Shulepov had been taken off his shift as soon as he told the hospital about his Covid-19 diagnosis.

A second video was shared three days later in which Mr Shulepov denied his initial “emotional” claims.

It comes after reports emerged of two other doctors dying after falling from hospital windows.

On May 1, Elena Nepomnyashchaya died after spending a week in intensive care, the regional department of the Health Ministry said in a statement.

The doctor reportedly fell from a window at a hospital which had been converted to treat Covid-19 patients.

Colleagues said she had complained about an "acute shortage" of PPE for doctors and nurses before her death.

The Health Ministry's regional health department has denied the allegations.

On April 24, Natalya Lebedeva, head of the emergency medical service at Star City, the main training base for Russia's cosmonauts, died in a hospital after reportedly falling from the sixth floor of the hospital.

She was reportedly blamed for the spread of coronavirus at her clinic.

The hospital within the Federal Biomedical Agency, which said it treated her for suspected coronavirus, released a statement saying that "a tragic accident" occurred.

The three incidents are reportedly being investigated by Russian law enforcement authorities.

Russia has 155,370 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1,451 deaths.

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