KASARGOD: Nafeesa, 74, a native of Uppala in Mangalpady panchayat, died of Covid-triggered complications on Friday night, said district surveillance officer Dr A T Manoj. She tested positive on July 11. However, health officials and family members disagree on the source of infection. Nafeesa and her daughter-in-law were shifted to the district hospital in Kanhangad after testing positive.
Nafeesa who developed pulmonary complication was shifted to Medical College Hospital at Pariyaram in Kannur, said Dr Manoj. She was also a diabetic patient.Later, swabs of all her family members were taken and eight of them, including her son who returned from Kuwait, tested positive on July 16. Health officials said he could have been the source of infection for the entire family. But the son denied it. He said he landed in Kannur airport on June 10 and went into quarantine in a vacant house for 15 days, and came home and stayed in room quarantine for another seven days till July 1.
On June 16 he was told that his swab samples tested negative. Health officials said there could have been an error in the test or his sample was collected before the virus expressed itself in the body.Nafeesa was buried at Kunnil Juma Masjid in Uppala on Saturday. Her three sons, a daughter and two granddaughters aged 40 days and three years, are among the 10 members of the family who tested positive. They have been admitted to the Covid First-Line Treatment Centre at Vidyanagar.
While Nafeesa’s body was being taken to Uppala in Mangalpady panchayat, the hearse stopped at Vidyanagar for the children to pay their last respects to their mother. The children wore personal protection equipment kits and followed the Covid protocol while bidding their mother goodbye. To be sure, the death of Nafeesa has not been officially recorded by the Directorate of Health Service and the chief minister did not mention the death in his evening briefing. The death was not mentioned in the daily press statement released by the District Information Office.
Earlier, the death of B A Abdul Rahman, 55, of Mogral Puttur, was also not recorded by the state government saying he ‘died in transit’. Rahman arrived in an ambulance from Hubballi on July 7. His condition worsened after crossing the border and died before reaching the General Hospital. Tests found he was infected.