UP Reports Third Covid-19 Death As Varanasi Man Who Passed Away On 3 April Turns Out To Be Virus Positive

A 55-year-old resident of Varanasi died on 3 April at the Sir Sundar Lal hospital in BHU of lung infection. His report on Sunday night revealed that he was Coronavirus positive.

District magistrate of Varanasi, Kaushal Raj Sharma said, "Curfew has been clamped in Madanpura under the limits of Dashashwamedh police station, Bajardiha under Bhelupur, Gangapur and Lohta, both under Mirza Murad police station area. This has been done for proper screening of people of these localities, sanitisation and other necessary exercises."

Corona positive patients have been found in these localities. All 10 members in the deceased's family have been quarantined and their samples have been sent for testing. The deceased was a resident of Gangapur locality.

Principal secretary health and family welfare Amit Mohan Prasad said, "This is now the third coronavirus related death in the state."

He further said, "The person was unwell since March 22 and took his symptoms lightly. He went to several private doctors before reaching the BHU hospital. The Corona infection turned fatal because of the presence of co-morbid conditions including hypertension and diabetes."

The district magistrate said, "The person was a shopkeeper in Gangapur locality in Rohaniya area. He received treatment at two private hospitals before reaching BHU. He had returned from Kolkata on March 15 and complained of cold and flu on March 27."

Sharma stated that the patient's sample for coronavirus testing was taken twice. "The first report remained inconclusive. The infection was confirmed in the second report. Before the result of the second test could arrive, he passed away."

Talking about the source of Covid-19 infection in the patient, the district magistrate said, "All we know till now is that he had travelled to Kolkata and returned from there on 15 March. Further investigations are underway."

The first two deaths related to Corona virus had been reported from Meerut and Basti districts.

Meanwhile, four localities of old Lucknow city have been sealed after seven Tablighi Jamaat members staying in these areas for the last two weeks, tested positive for coronavirus.

Additional deputy commissioner of police (ADCP), Vikas Chandra Tripathi said that the sealed localities in Lucknow include Peer Baksh Masjid in Talkatora area, Rahmaniya Masjid in Qaiserbagh's Phool Bagh, Mohammadi Masjid in Wazirganj's Astbal Charbagh and a house in Saadatganj's Yaseenganj,

He said three of these seven Jamaatis had come from Assam, and two each from UP's Saharanpur district and Jaipur (Rajasthan) to attend religious gatherings at mosques in Lucknow.

He said their travel history was being tracked.

The Kasaibada locality in Sadar was sealed earlier on Friday after it emerged as a Covid-19 hotspot with 12 Tablighi Jamaat members, who had been staying in a mosque there, testing positive.

Tripathi said the four new localities were sealed to ensure proper sanitisation and medical examination of people living there. He said the police personnel were assisting medical teams to collect samples of suspected patients.

In Lakhimpur district, three more men tested positive for Coronavirus, taking the number of infected people in the district to four. Following the development, an alert has been sounded in the district.

According to official sources, three men from Madhepura in Bihar, who returned from Delhi a few days back, were staying in various mosques in Dhaurahra area.

Lakhimpur district magistrate Shailendra Kumar Singh said that, "These men, along with some fellow villagers, were quarantined a few days back and their samples were sent to Lucknow. Out of the 12 samples sent, three tested positive."

Earlier, a Lakhimpur trader, who visited Istanbul, had tested positive on 19 March.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)