38-year-old dies in Patna Two more deaths were reported in the country on Sunday

Dev Raj, TT, 23.03.20, Patna: A 38-year-old man infected with coronavirus died on Saturday at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, prompting the state government to order a lockdown of all urban areas in Bihar.

The man had returned recently from Qatar, arriving at Calcutta airport and then travelling to his village Churamba in Munger district.

Two more deaths were reported in the country on Sunday — of a 67-year-old man in Surat and a 63-year-old man in Mumbai — raising the toll to 7, PTI reported.

The man in Surat had recently visited Delhi and Jaipur. He tested positive on Saturday and died on Sunday afternoon. His family is in quarantine.

The patient who died in Mumbai had a history of diabetes and heart disease. He too was admitted to hospital on Saturday and died on Sunday.

The Bihar patient was first admitted to a private hospital in Munger on March 15, but brought to AIIMS Patna on March 20 when his condition deteriorated.

The health department principal secretary, Sanjay Kumar, said: “The death happened due to renal failure at 9am on Saturday. His test results for coronavirus came in the evening.”

AIIMS Patna superintendent C.M. Singh said the patient was suffering from chronic kidney disease, was on dialysis and suffering from respiratory distress.

“He had coronavirus-infection-like symptoms and had a history of travel to one of the affected areas. So we sent his sample for tests at the Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences on March 20, the day he was admitted. He died next morning and the test results came in the evening,” Singh said.

However, the hospital did not wait for the test results and handed over the body to his family members. The family returned to Munger for the last rites.

Asked about the risk of infection to the family and others who handled the body, Singh said: “The body that we hand over is packed in plastic. The chances of virus transmission could have decreased due to it.”

Test samples of the people who had accompanied the patient to the hospital were also not collected.

Chief secretary Deepak Kumar said: “We are holding a meeting on how to trace all the people with whom the patient might have come into contact and could have infected.”

The test results of another patient who had similar symptoms and has died at Nalanda Medical College and Hospital are awaited.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar ordered a lockdown and appealed to people not to hide their travel history or symptoms.

“Keeping in mind the security of the common people in the state, all district headquarters, sub-divisional headquarters, block headquarters and all municipal areas are going to be locked down with immediate effect till March 31,” Nitish said.

The chief minister said that all private installations, public transport would be shut. Essential services like medical services, grocery stores, dairies, fuel pumps, banks, post offices and the media are exempt.

“I appeal to everybody to stay in their homes and not move out unnecessarily,” Nitish said.