india

Updated: Mar 11, 2020 17:34 IST

A 76-year-old man who had returned to Karnataka from Saudi Arabia about 10 days back has died but there is no confirmation yet if he had contracted the novel coronavirus infection, a state government official said.

The man had returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29 and headed home in Kalburgi, about 500 km from state capital Bengaluru.

According to reports, he fell ill soon after his return and was admitted by his family to Gulbarga Institute of Medical Sciences. His throat swab was sent for testing to check for coronavirus infection. He was shifted to CARE hospital in Hyderabad in the interim and was on his way back when he died.

Kalburgi district health officer Dr MA Jabbar confirmed the death but underlined that they were yet to receive confirmation if his illness was linked to coronavirus.

“We have sent samples to NIV (National Institute of Virology) Pune also to find out whether it was caused by the virus. We have no confirmation yet,” Dr Jabbar told HT. The officer, however, stressed that district health officials were nevertheless taking “all measures to ensure that there is no spread of the virus in the district”.

India has about 52 confirmed cases of coronavirus but there have been no deaths linked to the infection so far.

According to experts, those most at risk for severe influenza infection are children, pregnant women, elderly, those with underlying chronic medical conditions and those who are immunosuppressed. For Covid-19, the current understanding is that older age and underlying conditions increase the risk for severe infection.

Kalaburagi Deputy Commissioner Sharat B said the man was being treated for around three days when his family decided to take him to Hyderabad for further treatment. “Symptomatic treatment was given to him, their family decided to shift to Hyderabad,” he said, according to news agency ANI.

Sharat said he died in the ambulance on his way back from Hyderabad last night. “His samples and blood have been taken and sent to National Institute of Virology, Bangalore. But reports have still not been recieved. It (death due to Covid-19) is not confirmed but only suspected,” he said, PTI said.