KOCHI:A 36-year-old patient from Payyannur who was admitted with Covid-19-like symptoms at the Government Medical College, Ernakulam, died on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday.On Friday, the first test report from the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Alappuzha, had shown negative for Covid-19 However, the body of the Kannur native, who passed away at about 12.30am, has been kept in the morgue set up at the medical college’s isolation ward. As per the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) protocol, a further decision can only be taken after the second sample test report is received.Health officials called a meeting on Saturday and it has been decided to send the patient’s samples to NIV, Pune, also.Working in a supermarket in Malaysia for the last two-anda-half years, the patient had arrived at Cochin International Airport late on Thursday night.He was admitted to the isolation ward of the medical college at around 1am on Friday as he was seen coughing and was exhausted and put on ventilator support.A detailed check-up showed that he had pneumonia. He also suffered from diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening problem generally faced by people with diabetes. Hospital sources cited acute pneumonia and respiratory failure as the cause of death.As on Saturday, one person is in the isolation ward at the medical college and 12 are home quarantined, taking the total number of persons home quarantined in the district to 40. Six samples from the district have been sent to NIV, Alappuzha.Coronavirus has spread to more than 45 other countries including the US, UK, Singapore, Italy, France, Russia, Spain, and India.The global death toll is over 2,800, and China, where the outbreak originated, is the worst hit with more than 78,000 cases and over 2,700 fatalities.The WHO has declared the outbreak an international health emergency and said the global risk level remains high.