THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sixty-eight-year-old Abdul Azeez of Pothencode who tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday died in the Government Medical College Hospital here late in the night on Monday. Confirmation about the second Covid-19 death in the state came on Tuesday morning. His funeral was held by the health department and district administration following all protocols set by WHO at the Kalloor Juma Masjid burial ground.
The body was wrapped in a triple-layer body bag and was buried in a 10-foot-deep pit with five health workers in attendance in full personal protection gear. No one other than the health workers were allowed on the premises of the burial ground.The patient’s wife, three daughters and two sons-in-law were admitted in the isolation ward of the Government MCH earlier, but sent home to remain in quarantine late on Tuesday as they did not have any symptoms of the infection.
The samples of his wife, one daughter and her two children tested negative. The daughter is a conductor with KSRTC. His other immediate relatives have also been quarantined at their respective homes.The patient, a retired police officer, had been on ventilator support for five days after he suffered a heart attack and stroke while at the MCH. Both his kidneys failed following which he was given dialysis. The patient also had long-term thyroid issues. The patient had no travel history. All of his primary contacts have not been identified yet, causing doubts of the community spread to linger. He hadd tested negative in the first test.
The route map of the patient was published late on Monday with the information gathered from his immediate relatives. The patient who had cold and mild fever first visited the Thonnakkal Primary Health Centre twice and was referred to the Government MCH after he developed symptoms of Covid-19. However, his family chose to take him to Gokulam Medical College Hospital here on March 23 from where he was referred to the Government MCH the same day. The employees of Thonnakkal Primary Health Centre were taken to the Government MCH, while five staff members of Gokulam Medical College Hospital are in isolation at that hospital itself and a few other employees have been home-quarantined.
The patient’s wife, three daughters and two sons-in-law were admitted in the isolation ward of the Government MCH earlier, but sent home to remain in quarantine late on Tuesday as they did not have any symptoms of the infection.