Kalaburgi man’s kin cry foul; 34 people in his contact isolated

HYDERABAD/BENGALURU: Health officials have isolated as many as 34 people who had come in contact with a 76-year old man from Karnataka who became the first person to die in India of the novel coronavirus this week in Hyderabad, Telangana officials said on Friday.

“So far, we have tracked 34 people, including those who had treated him at three private hospitals in Hyderabad, before he succumbed on his way to Kalaburgi {Karnataka} on Tuesday night. All of them have been kept in isolation in Gandhi Hospitals, Secunderabad, for testing,” an official in the health department familiar with the development said on condition of anonymity.

Relatives of the man from Karnataka, who returned to India after a month-long visit to Saudi Arabia, brought him to Hyderabad on Tuesday and contacted three corporate hospitals in the city for his treatment.

“While the first two hospitals had refused to admit him, the third hospital at Banjara Hills kept him in observation for a couple of hours, before referring him to Gandhi Hospitals, which is the nodal hospital of Telangana for treating coronavirus disease. However, even before he was taken to Gandhi Hospitals, he breathed his last and was taken back to Kalaburgi,” the official cited above said. The son of the 76-year-old man alleged that the lack of timely medical attention had caused the death of his father.

“We took him to Hyderabad in the early hours of March 10th at around 4 am where several hospitals refused him admission. We were shuttling in the ambulance between 4 am and 2 pm. Finally one hospital did admit him but later told us to take him back. When we were bringing him back to Kalaburgi, late at night, he passed away. If timely medical attention had been provided, he could have survived.”

Former chief minister and leader of the opposition in the Karnataka assembly Siddaramiah also said the fact that the family of the man had to take him to several hospitals before one of them agreed to admit him showed the delay in treating him had caused the death of the Kalaburgi resident. The son of the Kalaburgi resident said four members of the family , including himself, who were with the man were under quarantine.