The 69-year-old man had a history of heart disease, says authorities.

A 69-year-old man who was admitted to the COVID-19 care centre in Ernakulam died at 8 a.m. on March 28. He is Kerala's first COVID-19 victim.

The man, who had returned from Dubai, was admitted to Ernakulam Medical College Hospital with pneumonia on March 22, said the authorities in a statement.

He had a history of heart disease and high blood pressure, it said. As his condition worsened, he was put on ventilator, said Dr. Fathahudeen, the nodal officer for COVID-19 treatment in Ernakulam.

The deceased was a resident of Chullikkal near Fort Kochi in Ernakulam.

The 69-year-old hadn’t shown any symptoms on arrival from Dubai on March 17, but was asked to quarantine himself.

However, his wife and the online taxi driver who ferried him from the airport also tested positive for the virus. Following this, 10 families in the apartment complex at Panayappilly, near Fort Kochi, where he was residing were also quarantined.

Health workers on Friday unearthed close to 70 contacts of the online cabbie’s wife, a saleswoman at a shop in the busy Broadway market in Ernakulam.