ALARMING

Body of NY Woman Who Died of Suspected Coronavirus Complications Left in Home for 24 Hours: Family

Her family of five said they slept overnight in their van as they desperately awaited for city officials to collect her body.

For over 24 hours, the body of a Bronx woman who died after experiencing coronavirus symptoms was left in her bed as her family of five crowded into their van where they slept overnight as they waited for city officials to arrive, the New York Post reported. Caridad Santiago, 43, was an MTA cleaner for New York City. “She’s been in the bed dead since then and nobody has come to take care of it. She’s still in the same place,” said her daughter, Crystal Puertos-Salaam, who found her mother after she died. Santiago’s husband, Ernesto Salaam, said that Emergency Medical Service workers and New York Police Department detectives were too “scared” to go into the room where she died and instead made his daughter “go in to check on the body.” “The police sent her in there to take pictures while they stood outside, saying they didn’t have the proper equipment to go in there. But why jeopardize my child? She’s only 16 years old,” Salaam said. Santiago was experiencing coronavirus symptoms such as shortness of breath, fever, and cough, but was not able to access 311 or the MTA’s 24-hour coronavirus hotline for workers experiencing symptoms of the virus.