BENGALURU/HYDERABAD: A 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi in north Karnataka, who died on March 10, is the country's first Covid-19 fatality, with test results on Thursday confirming that he was infected. The man died shortly after leaving a corporate hospital at Banjara Hills in Hyderabad.
Coronavirus outbreak live updates
The man had left for Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on pilgrimage on January 29. He arrived on February 29 at Hyderabad airport where he was screened and showed no symptoms of Covid-19, and proceeded to Kalaburagi, about 230 km away.
By March 5 he developed complications and was taken to the OPD of a private hospital in Kalaburagi. He was admitted the next day. Officials said he was shifted to a hospital in Hyderabad on March 9 for unknown reasons. But by then his samples had been taken for Covid-19 tests in Bengaluru.
On March 10, the man's family brought him back from Care Hospital in Hyderabad. "He died on the way to Kalaburagi, we don't know exactly when or where," a Karnataka official said adding all protocol related to the pandemic was followed during the man's last rites on Wednesday afternoon in Kalaburagi.
His throat swab samples had been received at a Bengaluru lab only on March 11.
The patient had come to Hyderabad from Kalaburagi and visited three hospitals in city. While two hospitals had denied him admission, Karnataka government said that Care Hospital at Banjara Hills kept him in ICU for three hours before directing him to the state-run Gandhi Hospital, which is the nodal centre for Covid-19 cases.
Kin ignored medical advice, were going back to Kalburgi
While his samples were taken in Kalaburagi, his Covid-19 positive status was confirmed in the late hours of Thursday by Karnataka government. “The patient was a suspected case of Covid-19 and had come here with breathlessness. We kept him in the isolation ward and asked the attendants to take him to Gandhi Hospital. However, the family went against our medical advice and were on their way back to Kalaburagi when he succumbed,” said a top source at Care Hospital where he was kept in isolation for three hours.
The source further said, “The family told us that he had been taken for testing at the Kalaburagi hospital where he was admitted for three days. The nurse at our hospital who had attended to him has also been put in isolation and the health department was informed about the case.” It is also confirmed that the patient was not taken to Gandhi Hospital and instead, the family took an ambulance back to Kalaburagi. The patient succumbed within one hour of leaving the hospital. Telangana health authorities had contacted the Karnataka government on Wednesday, following which his Covid-19 status was confirmed and a massive exercise of contact tracing began in both the states.
The health authorities visited the Care Hospital where the patient had been admitted and took stock of the situation. “We have identified the hospitals and contact tracing is on by the rapid response teams. We will share more details on Friday,” said Dr G Srinivas Rao, director, public health, Telangana. Karnataka health and family welfare department officials said though the senior citizen had arrived from a Covid-19-affected country, his symptoms were misleading and tests for the virus were delayed due to old age.
Coronavirus outbreak live updates
The man had left for Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on pilgrimage on January 29. He arrived on February 29 at Hyderabad airport where he was screened and showed no symptoms of Covid-19, and proceeded to Kalaburagi, about 230 km away.
By March 5 he developed complications and was taken to the OPD of a private hospital in Kalaburagi. He was admitted the next day. Officials said he was shifted to a hospital in Hyderabad on March 9 for unknown reasons. But by then his samples had been taken for Covid-19 tests in Bengaluru.
On March 10, the man's family brought him back from Care Hospital in Hyderabad. "He died on the way to Kalaburagi, we don't know exactly when or where," a Karnataka official said adding all protocol related to the pandemic was followed during the man's last rites on Wednesday afternoon in Kalaburagi.
His throat swab samples had been received at a Bengaluru lab only on March 11.
The patient had come to Hyderabad from Kalaburagi and visited three hospitals in city. While two hospitals had denied him admission, Karnataka government said that Care Hospital at Banjara Hills kept him in ICU for three hours before directing him to the state-run Gandhi Hospital, which is the nodal centre for Covid-19 cases.
Kin ignored medical advice, were going back to Kalburgi
While his samples were taken in Kalaburagi, his Covid-19 positive status was confirmed in the late hours of Thursday by Karnataka government. “The patient was a suspected case of Covid-19 and had come here with breathlessness. We kept him in the isolation ward and asked the attendants to take him to Gandhi Hospital. However, the family went against our medical advice and were on their way back to Kalaburagi when he succumbed,” said a top source at Care Hospital where he was kept in isolation for three hours.
The source further said, “The family told us that he had been taken for testing at the Kalaburagi hospital where he was admitted for three days. The nurse at our hospital who had attended to him has also been put in isolation and the health department was informed about the case.” It is also confirmed that the patient was not taken to Gandhi Hospital and instead, the family took an ambulance back to Kalaburagi. The patient succumbed within one hour of leaving the hospital. Telangana health authorities had contacted the Karnataka government on Wednesday, following which his Covid-19 status was confirmed and a massive exercise of contact tracing began in both the states.
The health authorities visited the Care Hospital where the patient had been admitted and took stock of the situation. “We have identified the hospitals and contact tracing is on by the rapid response teams. We will share more details on Friday,” said Dr G Srinivas Rao, director, public health, Telangana. Karnataka health and family welfare department officials said though the senior citizen had arrived from a Covid-19-affected country, his symptoms were misleading and tests for the virus were delayed due to old age.
Get the app