COVID Siddiqui was first Covid-19 casualty after he returned from a pilgrimage Doc of first casualty of Covid tests positive

A 63-year-old family physician of Mohammad Hussain Siddiqui (76), a resident of ward 29 who died of Covid-19, tested positive and is being treated at an isolation ward in ESI Hospital in Kalaburagi.

While the doctor was in home quarantine, his family members are suspected to be secondary contacts and it is feared that they may have contracted the disease from him. The doctor’s family members have been home quarantined by health officials.

Health officials are at work to identify all those people who were in touch with the doctor of Siddiqui family and a list has been prepared from March 6 to March 11 to separate them the public so as to contain the spread of the disease.

A couple of days back, Siddiqui’s daughter was tested for Covid-19 and is being treated in Kalaburagi while three other members of the same family were tested negative ion the lab tests.

While the doctor was in home quarantine, his family members are suspected to be secondary contacts and it is feared that they may have contracted the disease from him.

Mohammad Hussain Siddiqui was the first Covid-19 death in the country after he returned from a pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia. He died on March 10 and was buried on March 11 as per the directions of health officials to contain the disease.

Upon his arrival from Saudi Arabia on February 29 via Hyderabad, Siddiqui is said to have met several persons at his residence who greeted him on successful completion of pilgrimage to Saudi Arabia.

According to sources close to Siddiqui family, while, exchanging greetings till March 5, Siddiqui, unaware of contracting Covid-19, is said to have hugged a few and hand kissed a few thus leading to spread of the disease.

He on March 9 complained of fever and sever cough and was rushed to a hospital in Kalaburagi before shifting him to Hyderabad by his family members and he died on return to Kalaburagi on March 10 at around 11 pm.

In Kalaburagi, Siddiqui was tested for viral pneumonia.

“On his return from Saudi, he was in continuous touch with friends and relatives who came wishing him. He even travelled to Vijayapura (Bijapur) for his relative’s house,” said the source.

As a precautionary measure, after the disease in Siddiqui was confirmed, health officials shifted 20-family members of Siddiqui family to ESI Hospital which includes 8 children.

Also, the total shut down of commercial establishments over Covid-19 threat seems to be working well if one looks into the number of commuters using government run public transport services like KSRTC, BMTC and BMRCL. The number of people using mass transport system has drastically come down.