COIMBATORE: A 70-year-old man from Palakkad who was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore with renal failure and diabetes died on Friday. However, the swabs and blood samples collected from the deceased turned out to be positive for COVID-19 in two separate tests.
Based on WHO guidelines, his body was disinfected and safely cremated near Athupalam in Coimbatore the same day of his death.
Public Health and Preventive Medicine Department officials claimed the deceased, who owned a hardware store in Palakkad, came to Coimbatore for treatment for abdominal pain a few days ago.
Sources added the deceased initially underwent endoscopy procedures in a private hospital near Ganapathy.
On April 5, he suffered a cardiac arrest. Doctors then referred him to another private hospital in Gandhipuram, where he was given ventilator support.
The health department was notified about the patient's admission and simultaneously his swabs and blood samples were collected since he had come from Kerela.
Initially, the samples were tested in a private lab in Coimbatore and came out positive for the viral infection. Subsequently, the health department collected samples for the second time and tested them in their facility and confirmed the result.
Deputy Director of Health Services G Ramesh Kumar, however, ruled out any links to the coronavirus but told TNIE the deceased was a patient with multiple comorbidities.
"The samples were tested mainly because he was from Kerela. The patient died due to multiple illnesses. His body was cremated," Ramesh added.
The information about the death of the patient was notified to the District Medical Officer in Palakkad. All the family members of the patient are now being monitored by officials there, he said.
Similarly, the doctors and medical staff of the private hospitals in Coimbatore who treated or came in direct contact with the deceased were isolated. Their samples shall be tested soon.