India's First Death Case Due To Coronavirus In Karnataka

BENGALURU: A 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi passed away recently and the Karnataka Health Minister B. Sriramulu confirmed that he tested positive for COVID-10 on Thursday. This becomes the first case of coronavirus fatality in India. 

Announcing the news, the minister tweeted, "The 76-year-old man from Kalaburgi who passed away and was a suspected to be a COVID-19 patient has been Confirmed for COVID-19."

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Prakash Kumar, Karnataka Health Department's joint director for Communicable Diseases, said that the state is following all the protocols so as to dispose of the man's body safely. He added that the body has been completely disinfected and is disposed of following the government guidelines. He even shared the guidelines on how to handle the dead body in the situation of the novel virus. 

The Health Minister said that the department has begun the contact tracing and quarantine measures. 

The man, who passed away due to the deadly virus, had returned to Kalaburgi on February 29th from Saudi Arabia and passed away on the night of Tuesday. He showed the virus symptoms and was admitted to a hospital on 5th March. Later, his family members disobeyed the medical advice and shifted him to another hospital in Hyderabad. 

Sriramulu said that the deceased was a coronavirus suspect after he died and the cause of his death was confirmed on Tuesday. So far, this is the only death case due to the pandemic. 

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The man died in Hyderabad's private hospital and following the development, the state health department's Information, Education and Communication (IEC) special officer Suresh Shastri said that the Telangana government has also been informed about the matter.