India has recorded the first case of fatality due to coronavirus on Thursday as a 76-year-old man died in Karnataka.
The Karnataka government while confirming the death said on Thursday that the man was being treated for suspected coronavirus and died on Tuesday night.
“The 76 year old man from Kalbauragi who passed away & was a suspected #COVID19 patient has been Confirmed for #COVID19. The necessary contact tracing, isolation & other measures as per protocol are being carried out,” Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu in a tweet.
The Karnataka health minister said the necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol were being taken.
The man recently returned from Saudi Arabia.
Media reports quoted officials as saying that the patient had severe co-morbidities such as history of hypertension, diabetes and asthma and appendicitis.
A media report quoted the joint director (communicable diseases) of the Karnataka health department, BG Prakash Kumar said all protocols were followed for disposal of the body.
When asked to elaborate on the protocols, Kumar said: “The body is disinfectants completely and disposed as per the Government of India guidelines.”
Kumar further said the Telangana government has also been informed as the man had gone to a private hospital there earlier.
After announcing the death of the man, the health authorities said the exact cause of the man’s death was being ascertained.
Karnataka health minister B Sriramulu on Wednesday said there was no confirmation that the death was due to coronavirus and test reports of his samples were awaited.
He also said the person had gone to Saudi Arabia in January end and came back on February 29.
On his return, the man was down with fever and took treatment at a private hospital.
Later, on the advice of doctors or family he had gone to Hyderabad, the minister had said.
The report quoted a senior health department official as saying that the man died on the way back from Hyderabad around 11 pm on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a fifth person in Karnataka has been diagnosed with the novel coronavirus or Covid-19.
The person has been identified as an employee of Google.
The Google spokesperson in a statement said: “We can confirm that an employee from our Bangalore office has been diagnosed with COVID-19.”
“They were in one of our Bangalore offices for a few hours before developing any symptoms,” the Google spokesperson added.
The employee has been on quarantine since then.