76-year-old man suspected to be infected with coronavirus dies in Karnataka

Bengaluru, Mar 11: A 76-year-old man who returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29 suspected to be infected with coronavirus dies in Karnataka's Kalaburagi district. The person has been identifed as Mohammed Hussain Siddiqui whose sample for Covid-19 has been collected & sent for testing. He was shifted to Hyderabad from GIMS for further treatment on Tuesday against the advice of the doctors.

However, the district administration and District Health Officer (DHO) M A Jabbar are waiting for the final report of throat swab of the patient sent for lab test.

The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus in the India has risen to 62 with with two fresh positive cases -- one each from Delhi and Rajasthan -- being reported, the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, three new cases of coronavirus were confirmed in Karnataka on Tuesday taking the total number of infected people to four, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa said and asked people not to panic.

A software engineer who returned here from the US on March 1 tested positive for the coronavirus on Monday, becoming the first COVID-19 patient in Karnataka.

According to health department officials, his wife and daughter too tested positive for the virus on Tuesday.

Another person, who had travelled from America via London and arrived here on March 8, also tested positive, they said. Surveillance at airports for those with symptoms has been stepped up, Yediyurappa, who chaired a high level meeting with officials here, told reporters.

"So far four people have been confirmed for COVID-19. The patients as well as their family members have been quarantined." Yediyurappa said the engineer's driver and his family have been quarantined. His friends too have been screened, he added.

"There is no need for the citizens of our state to panic. We are going to screen all the international passengers effectively," the Chief Minister said after chairing a meeting with the officials about the preparedness to tackle the disease. He asked people not to pay heed to rumours and sought media support to allay public fear.

Yediyurappa appealed to the media for support to tackle the coronavirus challenge. "We need media support. Do not publicise small incidents to make it look big," Yediyurappa said. To a question about shortage of face masks due to black-marketing, Yediyurappa said raids have been conducted to ensure that no one sells these products at a higher price.

A Mangaluru report said a man, who was under coronavirus quarantine at a district hospital following his arrival from Dubai on March 8, and later left the premises, has been re-admitted to the facility following the district administration's intervention. Dakshina Kannada Deputy Commissioner Sindhu B Rupesh said the patient's samples have been collected and sent to a testing centre in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, medical education minister K Sudhakar said the state government is mulling providing additional health insurance coverage to doctors and paramedics treating the coronavirus cases and working in laboratories besides existing schemes.

Stressing that their safety was 'paramount', he also asked them to follow the guidelines laid down by the Health department while treating the virus cases. He was speaking after inaugurating a laboratory which will have testing facilities for coronavirus and other pathogens, including H1N1, at the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute in the Victoria Hospital campus here.