76-Year-Old Karnataka Man Dies Due To Coronavirus, Had Travel History To Saudi Arabia

A 76-year-old man from Kalburgi, Karnataka who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia had died of coronavirus infection, the Karnataka health department said in a statement. The man had returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29 and had landed in Hyderabad from where he headed home in Kalburgi, about 500 km from state capital Bengaluru.

AFP

The patient was known to have hypertension and asthma and had developed symptoms on 6 March. "On 9th March 2020, the symptoms got aggravated and he was shifted to a private hospital in Kalaburgi. In this private hospital, he was provisionally diagnosed as ¡°mid-zone Viral Pneumonia" and ¡°suspected COVID-19."

Though his samples were taken only on 9 March, the hospital authorities discharged the patient on the insistence of the family and took him to Hyderabad. The centre even stating that the family refused to listen to the Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner and transferred the patient "without his knowledge." But he was sent back from there and was on his way back when he died on Tuesday.

The death has raised several questions including indications of procedural lapses that let a heavily symptomatic patient leave one medical facility, go to Hyderabad and then be sent back in a day.

"The necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol are being carried out. Telangana government has also been informed since he went to a private hospital there," the health department said.

As of Friday, the number of Covid-19 patients in India has risen to 80, including 16 Italians and one Canadian. The figure also includes three patients from Kerala who were discharged last month following recovery.

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At 16, Kerala has the most number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the country.

On Friday Google confirmed that an employee in their Bengaluru office was diagnosed with COVID-19 and has been put on quarantine. The spokesperson for Google said employees working at Bangalore office have been asked to work from home.

BCCL

While Covid-19 doesn't have a cure yet, it has a mortality rate of just around 2 per cent. However, elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions face a much higher risk from the infection.

The World Health Organization (WHO) on Wednesday declared the outbreak of Covid-19 a pandemic. Since the outbreak, the virus has affected over 114 countries, whose effects are being felt in financial markets and businesses world over.