CHENNAI: A 42-year-old Domestic Breeding Checker died of ‘non-corona related’ respiratory failure. He had been involved in spraying disinfectants during the pandemic.
Dr Ravi, Nodal Officer for COVID-19 treatment at Stanley Hospital said the patient was admitted on May 5 and has tested negative.
“The disinfectant worker has been having symptoms for three months and he had breathing issues. He had hypersensitivity pneumonitis and died of respiratory failure,” said Dr Ravi.
He also tested negative for HIV, the doctor added.
However, family members said that he was healthy and did not suffer from any such respiratory problems before this and that he had several Corona-related symptoms over the last few days.
He was a resident of Royapuram zone but had been working in the Teynampet zone of the city corporations for the last seven years under the National Urban Livelihoods Mission (NULM) scheme.
His brother J Shankar told Express, “The family initially got tested at the Bharathi Women’s Arts College facility where we were told that only his younger son (aged 12) was positive. My brother (the deceased), his wife and their older son were quarantined at the Madras Veterinary college in Vepery.”
After he began to suffer from breathlessness and respiratory problems, he was shifted to Stanley hospital where he died, he added.
“He was a healthy man and had no problems before this. There has been some mistake,” he said.
A corporation official said that he was a resident of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board apartments in Royapuram and was advised to get tested with his family as part of a regular testing drive in areas where number of cases are high.
Chief Minister’Edappadi’ K Palaniswami, in April, had announced a solarium of Rs 50 lakhs to families of frontline workers lost to the pandemic.