Karnataka reports 6th COVID-19 death, 80-yr-old woman with respiratory infection dies

Mangalore Today News Network

Gadag, April 09, 2020:  An 80-year-old COVID-19 patient from Karnataka’s Gadag district died in the early hours of Thursday. Gadag Deputy Commissioner Hiremath said that the woman suffered a cardiac arrest at around 12.55 am on Thursday.

 

This takes the total death toll due to COVID-19 in the state to six. This is the first COVID-19-related death in Gadag district. DC Hiremath said that she was the first patient from the district to test positive too.

The woman was undergoing treatment for severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) in isolation at the Gadag Institute of Medical Sciences. She was admitted to the isolation ward on Monday after she had trouble breathing. Her sample was taken and she was tested positive on Tuesday.

"The doctors at GIMS were initially surprised to see her begin to recover on Tuesday evening itself. She was moving by herself. Yesterday (April 8) too, she seemed to be doing better in the morning. She was not on a ventilator and was on oxygen support. We had a lot of hope for her," DC Hiremath added.

DC Hiremath further stated that 51 contacts of the woman have been traced, including her family members (He did not say how many of them were family members). Of the 51 contacts, 42 have tested negative. The remaining test results are awaited.

"We have quarantined all 51. They will be at the quarantine centre for 14 days as a precautionary measure," he added.

With this, till date, two people with a history of SARI have succumbed to COVID-19. A 65-year-old fruit vendor from Kalaburagi died on Tuesday night. He too had a history of SARI.

As on Thursday, the Karnataka government said that 6 out of the 181 patients, who tested positive have SARI, including two patients from Mysuru, who were part of the cluster of positive cases related to the pharmaceutical company in Nanjangud.

“One of them had pneumonia. They are doing fine now. We are still collating data on the number of people with SARI who were tested. We will announce it soon,” Jawaid Akthar, Principal Secretary of Health and Family Welfare said.

Of the six people with SARI, two have died. The other four are currently undergoing treatment.

He further stated that rapid testing kits are expected to arrive by next week and the state government would conduct 65,000 randomised tests to determine whether there is community spread or not.

Courtesy:The News Minute