India reports first coronavirus death

India has reported its first coronavirus death. A 76-year-old man died of coronavirus on Tuesday in Kalaburagi district of the southern state of Karnataka.

Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu in a tweet said that "the 76 year old man from Kalbauragi who passed away & was a suspected #COVID19 patient has been confirmed for #COVID19."

He said necessary contact tracing, isolation and other measures as per protocol were being take.

The victim, who returned from Saudi Arabia on February 29, died on Tuesday and the result of the test of his swab samples taken earlier confirmed he was coronavirus positive, Sriramulu said.

The victim was screened on arrival at the Hyderabad airport but apparently showed no symptoms at that time.

On March 5 he went to a private hospital in Kalburgi and was admitted the following day with asthma and hypertension. Hospital staff tested him for novel coronavirus.

India has so far reported 74 coronavirus positive cases.

India with its 1.3 billion population and proximity to China has so far come through the global virus crisis, that has killed more than 4,600 people, relatively unscathed.

 

Dhaka/ Mukul