Janjivan Bureau / New Delhi : A 63-year-old COVID-19 patient died here on Tuesday, making him the first such victim in Maharashtra and India’s third reported death due to coronavirus. He had not disclosed his travel history to Dubai. Odisha’s first COVID-19 positive man came in contact with at least 129 people during his journey by train from New Delhi and after his arrival in Bhubaneswar on March 11. Puducherry reports its first confirmed COVID-19 case; 68-year-old woman tests positive in Mahe region said Health department official.
The man was under treatment at the state-run Kasturba Hospital in south central Mumbai for the past few days.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the country is 126 as of now.
“The COVID-19 positive patient was in a private hospital for five days and was subsequently referred to the Kasturba Hospital, Mumbai. The patient had a travel history to Dubai, which he reportedly did not disclose at the time of his admission to the private hospital,” Health Ministry said.
His wife,too, is COVID-19 positive and stable.
India has witnessed three deaths so far from COVID—one of a 76-year-old male in Karnataka, one of a 65-year-old woman in Delhi and now a 63-year-old male in Mumbai.
MoS Muraleedharan in self quarantine
MoS External Affairs V Muraleedharan has self quarantined himself at his Delhi residence after he returned from Kerala where he had a contact with a suspected coronavirus case.
Government sources said the minister practiced home quarantine guidelines issued by the Centre to stay infection free and ensure he doesn’t spread infection.
He will remain in isolation for 14 days and will return after a final check.
Incubation period for COVID virus is 14 days.
The minister is reported to have visited a hospital in Kerala last week where he was in contact with someone suspected to have COVID.
Govt grapples to manage crisis as people duck screening
Government is grappling with community awareness for containment of the viral outbreak. In recent days, people have ducked screening and self-declaration protocols to move around despite high risk of infections.
There is no law in India to penalise people for lack of cooperation.
Centre on Monday issued a social distancing advisory but sources say the advisory won’t help if people choose to look the other way.
“Centre is doing what it can. But it’s sad to see people acting irresponsibly. Cooperation is key. Social distancing is the only effective measure available to India to stop the virus from growing but that cannot happen unless people cooperate. We still see people travelling, traffic rush on roads is still the same. This must stop,” says leading medical expert Devi Shetty.
Cases rise across the country
The number of novel coronavirus cases in the country rose to 126 on Tuesday after fresh cases were reported from several states, the Health Ministry said.
The cases include 22 foreign nationals and three persons who died in Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Delhi has so far reported seven positive cases while Uttar Pradesh has recorded 13 cases, including one foreigner.
Karnataka has 8 coronavirus patients while Maharashtra 39, including 3 foreigners. Ladakh has reported four cases while Jammu and Kashmir three. Telangana has reported four cases.
Rajasthan has also reported four cases including that of two foreigners. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Punjab have reported one case each.
Odisha reported its first case on Monday.
In Haryana, there are 15 cases, which includes fourteen foreigners, while Uttarakhand has reported one case.
Kerala has recorded 24 cases including two foreign nationals. The number also includes three patients who were discharged last month after they recovered from the contagious infection with flu-like symptoms.
According to the ministry’s data, 13 people have been discharged so far, including the three Kerala patients.
Three persons infected with the virus have died so far.
On Tuesday, a 64-year-old man from Mumbai with a travel history to Dubai died of the novel coronavirus.
While a 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi who returned from Saudi Arabia died on Tuesday last, a 68-year-old woman in Delhi who had tested positive for coronavirus passed away at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital on Friday night.
Amid rising coronavirus cases in India, the government has said no community transmission of the virus has been observed and there have only been a few cases of local transmission so far.
With the World Health Organisation (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, a health ministry official said over 52 000 people who had come in contact with the 125 positive cases have been identified through contact tracing and were under vigorous surveillance.
He said all essential facilities like community surveillance, quarantine, isolation wards, adequate personal protective equipment (PPEs), trained manpower, rapid response teams are being strengthened further in all states and union territories.
With the positive cases of COVID-19 showing an increase, the government has proposed a set of social distancing measures to be in force till March 31.
“Travel of passengers from member countries of the European Union, the European Free Trade Association, Turkey and United Kingdom to India is prohibited with effect from 18th March 2020,” Lav Aggarwal, the Joint Secretary in the ministry said on Monday.
“No airline shall board a passenger from these nations to India with effect from 1200 GMT on 18th March 2020. The airline shall enforce this at the port of initial departure,” he had said.
Both these instructions are temporary measures and shall be in force till March 31 2020 and will be reviewed subsequently, he had said.
