India fights virus as one more dies
2ND DEATH Mother of infected Delhi man succumbs to Covid-19 FRESH CASE IN J&K 75-year-old man tests positive for virus
NEWDELHI: India recorded its second coronavirus disease (Covid-19) fatality on Friday as the pandemic continued to spread in the country, sickening seven more people and forcing more states to order restrictions on businesses, educational institutions and public gathering even as authorities faced new challenges in keeping people from potentially infecting others.
The latest victim was identified as a 68-year-old woman who is believed to have been infected by the coronavirus (Sars-Cov-2) after being in close contact with her son, who had travelled to Switzerland and Italy last month. The two were hospitalised at Ram Manohar Lohia on March 7.
“She was a known case of diabetes and hypertension. Her condition worsened on March 9, 2020 with development of pneumonia and she was shifted to intensive care unit. Due to comorbid conditions, she died on March 13 at RML Hospital,” said a statement by the Union health ministry.
On Thursday, a 76-year-old man from Kalburgi, Karnataka, was confirmed as the first Covid-19 fatality. Both victims fit trends in other parts of the world that suggest the disease is most dangerous for people who are above the age of 60 or suffer from existing diseases.
The second death took place on a day when the World Health Organization (WHO) declared Europe as the new epicentre of the pandemic, confirming the hotbed had shifted from China where the virus is believed to have originated late last year. The total number of fatalities worldwide crossed the 5,000mark with nearly 140,000 people sickened across 117 countries.
In India, at least four more states ordered schools and colleges to shut, cinemas halls closed and large public gatherings banned as the total number of cases rose to 82. New cases were reported from Maharashtra (3), Kerala (2), Karnataka (1) and Delhi (1).
These measures are in addition to an unprecedented embargo on the entry of foreign tourists announced earlier this month and officials believe more steps, which could disrupt how people live, work and commute, are in the offing.
In what could undermine some of these efforts, hundreds of “high-risk” individuals suspected to have been infected have defied officials’ directions to admit themselves in the hospital or remain isolated in their homes.
“There are around 420 people in Delhi who were categorised as high-risk and were advised to get tested and remain in hospital isolation and refused to do so. Most agreed to stay in home-quarantine, but there too they put other members of the family at risk. The state Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP) has now prepared a list of these uncooperative people and shared it with the respective district deputy commissioners. They can now take action under the epidemic act,” said an officer from Delhi’s integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) cell.
The Union government and several states have invoked the epidemic diseases act, which gives authorities the legal right to forcibly put someone in quarantine. In at least three more states – Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Punjab – officials have sounded an alert for multiple high-risk patients who have gone missing from hospitals.