india

Updated: Apr 22, 2020 19:07 IST

The samples of two suspected Covid-19 patients who died in the Government Doon Medical College Hospital Dehradun have been sent for testing on Wednesday, officials said.

Government Doon Medical College Hospital is a designated hospital for treating coronavirus patients in Uttarakhand.

“A 75-year-old male suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and another 23-year-old male in a critical condition died around 10 pm on Tuesday in the hospital. We have taken their samples and sent them for Covid-19 testing on Wednesday morning, as a precautionary measure as we are suspecting that they might have contracted the deadly virus. The test results are awaited,” said Dr NS Khatri, deputy chief medical superintendent of the hospital.

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Dr Khatri said the 23-year-old man was referred to Doon Hospital from Coronation Hospital in Dehradun on Tuesday afternoon, “in a very critical condition, without any pulse or blood pressure rating and died of cardio-respiratory arrest.” The 75-year-old man was admitted to Doon Hospital on Monday afternoon.

Neither patient had any history of foreign travel nor were they living near any hotspot area in Dehradun.

Uttarakhand has so far reported 46 cases of Covid-19 out of which 19 people have recovered.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that obstructs airflow to and from the lungs.

Chief minister Trivendra Singh Rawat on Wednesday held a meeting with senior officials regarding control and various arrangements to check the Covid-19 pandemic and instructed officials to make concessions as per the Centre’s guidelines.

“Covid-19 cases are doubling across India on an average of 7.5 days, while in Uttarakhand, they are doubling in 26.6 days. From this point of view Uttarakhand is in a far better position in tackling the outbreaks and ranks third in preventing coronavirus infection in the country,” said Rawat.

Rawat directed the officials that for effective control of Covid-19, honouring corona warriors by garlands, shawls or giving bouquets, need to be banned completely with immediate effect as it goes against norms of social distancing.

Apart from this, people should also not take photographs with the people who are distributing the goods, he said.

The CM asked officials to make an action plan on how to generate income for small businessmen and locals along with giving permission for agricultural works as per the guidelines of the Central government.