1st in Vid: Death in isolationward, baby born to Covid mom

TNN | Apr 30, 2020, 04:33 IST

On a day when Vidarbha recorded its first Covid-19 patient’s death in IGGMCH isolation ward in Nagpur on Wednesday, the city also witnessed its first corona positive patient delivering a baby, also in the same hospital.
After recording double digit increase in Covid-19 positive cases for five days in a row, Vidarbha registered only six new patients on Wednesday. These include three from Nagpur and one each in Amravati, Yavatmal and Akola. With this, the total number of patients in Vidarbha has gone up to 300.
A 70-year-old man, tested positive on April 21, breathed his last in Nagpur, while 28-year-old woman from Mominpura gave birth to a baby girl a few hours after testing positive for Covid-19.
What could be a matter of concern for all, Amravati recorded yet another death of a suspected Covid-19 patient — a 72-year-old man. His swab samples are yet to be tested. The suspect from Sukali area, who was suffering from cold and cough, was admitted to Covid Hospital on Monday, but died on Tuesday night.
“We have put five members of his family in institutional quarantine and other contacts are being traced and quarantined,” said Amravati collector Shailesh Naval.
Swab test reports of Amravati’s Kanwar Nagar paan vendor, who died at Covid Hospital three days ago, are also awaited, said an official who confirmed that 25 members of his family have been home quarantined.
Four patients from Nagpur and one from Buldhana were discharged on Wednesday, taking the total number of recovered patients from the region to 82.
Amravati has already seen seven deaths — highest in Vidarbha. If the two suspects (now deceased) also test positive, it would be a major cause of concern for the administration. So far, 6,598 persons have been screened in Amravati and swab samples of 1,156 have been tested. Of these, 28 have been tested positive, 843 negative and 278 reports are awaited.
Yavatmal, which is already in the Covid red zone, heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday as only one person tested positive. Total active positive cases in the city are now at 76. There are 314 persons admitted to the GMCH isolation ward of whom 238 are presumptive cases.
In the last 24 hours, four suspected cases have been admitted to the isolation ward. Officials informed that reports of 1,125 out of the 1,148 swab samples sent to Nagpur lab have been received so far and 1,039 have tested negative. 150 persons have been kept in institutional quarantine, while 884 in home quarantines so far.
Meanwhile, district collector MD Singh has rolled back his new time schedule for essential services from 12 noon to 3pm and now it is rescheduled from 8am to 12 noon daily.
Similarly, the ban on two-wheelers on the city roads has been lifted. The containment areas will follow the set norms strictly.
The collector has also brought Patipura and Dorlipura areas, mostly inhabited by labourers and slum dwellers, under the containment zone. Here the residents are on the verge of starvation due to loss of livelihood, say activists.