India’s First Covid-19 Fatality: The Case Of 76-Year-Old Religious Leader From Kalaburagi

Last Thursday (Mar 12), Health and Family Welfare Department of Karnataka
confirmed that the 76-year-old man from Kalaburagi, who died of lung complications a couple of days earlier, had tested positive for the coronavirus. He became the first fatality of Covid-19 pandemic in India.

Deccan Chronicle reported that the deceased patient was 76-year old Mohammed Hussain Siddiqui, a religious leader from Kalaburagi in North Karnataka. Siddiqui had returned to India from a trip to Saudi Arabia last month.

On Sunday, state health minister B Sriramulu said that a 46-year old individual (who is a close relative of the first Coronavirus victim) had tested positive for the virus and been placed in isolation in Kalaburagi government hospital. Her condition is said to be stable. Three other relatives of the victim have tested negative.

In a related development, a medical student, who is said to have been in contact with the deceased person at the Kalaburagi hospital, was shifted to the isolation ward in Thrissur, Kerala yesterday after she developed fever. The student, along with 10 other girls, who were in the team that treated the deceased, had returned to Thrissur on Saturday evening. Others are under observation.

The deceased patient, who had a history of hypertension and asthma, returned from Mecca on Feb 29th, landed at Bengaluru airport and then proceeded to Kalaburagi at a distance of 500 km away.

After developing symptoms of cough and cold on Mar 6th, he was visited by a private doctor at his home and treated. He was subsequently admitted to a hospital in Kalaburagi after his health condition worsened.

His sample was collected on Mar 9th by the Viral Research Diagnostic laboratory, GIMS, Kalaburagi to rule out Covid-19 and the sample was dispatched to VRDL, BMC&RI, Bengaluru. Without waiting for the test results, his attendees insisted that the patient be discharged against medical advice and the attendees rushed him to Hyderabad for further treatment.

Siddiqui was later taken to two private hospitals. Since he was suffering from acute breathlessness and lung dysfunction, the patient was referred to the Gandhi Hospital but the family was not ready to go there.

At another private hospital in Hyderabad, the patient was immediately shifted to an isolation room, equipped with negative air pressure and HEPA air filters to prevent any further transmission. The docs and other personnel who attended to the patient had observed complete PPE (personal protective eqpt) protocol.

The private hospital then advised that the patient be must be admitted to the critical care isolation unit. The hospital also informed that if patient was found to have been infected by coronavirus, then he must be shifted to the Gandhi Hospital. The family however refused and decided to take him back to his native place on 10 March. The patient died en route to his native place in Kalaburagi.

Siddiqui’s body was sanitised by health officials before handing it over to his family for last rites. District health officer M A Jabbar instructed those conducting the final rites not to touch the body with bare hands and use other protective measures during burial.