Second blood sample of Kerala man who died of flu tests negative for covid-19

kerala

Updated: Mar 02, 2020 04:24 IST

The second blood samples of a Malaysia-returned man, who later died in an isolation ward in a hospital in Kerala, tested negative for COVID-19 at the National Institute of Virology in Pune, said health officials.

The body of Jainesh (36) was later handed over to his relatives for cremation. Relatives were earlier sounded that if he turned positive in the second test, his body will be buried under the international medical norms.

Kochi has been on high alert ever since he landed at the airport with symptoms similar to COVID-19 on Friday night.

His body fluids were tested negative at the Virology Institute in Alappuzha for H1NI and COVID-19 the next day. His second sample was sent again to doubly ensure he was negative for coronavirus, doctors had said.

Before the second result surfaced, he died on Saturday from pneumonia and diabetic ketoacidosis .

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