VISAKHAPATNAM: A 62-year-old man, who was admitted to King George Hospital for kidney ailment, died soon after hospitalisation here on Thursday.
Doctors sent his swabs for test as he was having comorbid symptoms. However, even before lab reports, which confirmed Covid-19 positive, were received his body was handed over to his family members as it was initially thought it was a normal death.
They took away the body to their residence at Chengalraopeta in the city. As many as 40 doctors, nurses, ward boys and sanitation staff at KGH were sent for quarantine and they were asked to undergo Covid-19 test.
Andhra Medical College principal PV Sudhakar said, in a statement here on Friday, that the elderly man who was suffering from acute kidney problem visited several private hospitals before being admitted to KGH. He died at the hospital within an hour after he was admitted.
He said though the man tested positive an eight-member expert committee headed by the medical education director will ascertain whether he died due to kidney failure or coronavirus.
Until it was ratified by the committee, the death cannot be construed as coronavirus death, he said. Officials launched a drive to trace the contacts of the man.
Meanwhile, the entire Chengalraopeta is now under the GVMC control and a massive sanitisation drive was taken up in the locality.