A 36-year-old general physician, who consulted at two private hospitals in Mumbai's Govandi, succumbed to the novel coronavirus infection on Thursday. He is likely to have contracted the virus from a patient at the hospital.

The doctor did not have any co-morbid conditions and died of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome due to Covid-19 along with multiple organ failure. He was declared dead at around 1:55 am on Thursday at SL Raheja Hospital. The doctor started showing symptoms such as loose motions and breathlessness on April 13.

He was admitted to the Sion Hospital in the wee hours of April 15 where he was tested for Covid-19. As his condition was deteriorating and an ICU bed was not available at Sion, he was shifted to Somaiya Hospital in Vidyavihar. At Somaiya hospital, his breathing improved but he needed dialysis.

As he was a suspected Covid-19 patient, Somaiya hospital administration said that he will have to be shifted to Raheja hospital as they have dialysis for Covid-19 patients.

"My brother had to be shifted on oxygen to Raheja and no cardiac ambulance was ready to transport a Covid-19 patient. He was on a ventilator. After looking at his deteriorating condition, we shifted him using a normal ambulance. His samples have returned positive for Covid-19," said the deceased's brother who is also a doctor.

The doctor's condition kept deteriorating. He had a multi-organ failure with deranged liver function test, acute renal failure and bleeding disorder. His condition further worsened on Wednesday night. Despite multiple efforts of resuscitation, he could not survive and was declared dead.

"We did not get a chance to speak with him to understand how he contracted the virus. Before going to Sion, we tried to get a bed at Kasturba hospital, but we were told no beds are available," the doctor's brother added.

"This is something we need to be very careful about. If healthcare workers are infected like this, we should be able to provide them with the best of care," said Epidemiologist Dr Om Shrivastava.