Coronavirus death toll rises to 15 in India with total cases at 649

The death toll in the COVID-19 epidemic in India went up to 15 on Thursday (March 26), with the death of a 70-year-old man in Gujarat, an old woman in Karnataka, and one each in Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir.

However, the Centre has not confirmed the information given by state health officials about these deaths yet.

Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Bihar, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Jammu and Kashmir have recorded one death each so far, while Karnataka reported two deaths, and Gujarat and Maharashtra recorded three deaths each. This takes the total death toll to 15.

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The total number of people who tested positive for the virus in India increased to 649, according to data provided by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Out of them, 593 patients are currently undergoing treatment.

Meanwhile, a man tested positive for COVID-19 in the Andaman and Nicobar islands on Thursday, according to Chetan Sanghi, Chief Secretary of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. “He flew back from Chennai on March 24. Follow up action is being taken as per protocol,” he added.

Karnataka

Karnataka recorded the second death due to COVID-19 on Thursday, with the test result of an elderly woman who died on Wednesday (March 25) testing positive.

(More inputs will be added)

Gujarat

A 70-year-old COVID-19 patient died in Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district early on Thursday morning, a health department officials said.

With this, the total number of deaths due to coronavirus in the state has gone up to three, they said.

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“The 70-year-old man died at a government hospital in Bhavnagar,” state principal secretary (health) Jayanti Ravi said.

Earlier, one patient each from Ahmedabad and Surat had succumbed to the viral infection, she said.

Jammu and Kashmir

Jammu and Kashmir reported its first coronavirus death on Thursday (March 26) after a 65-year-old man hailing from Hyderpora area succumbed to the disease.

“As we share the sad news of our first #Covid19 fatality, my heart goes out to the family of the deceased. We stand with you and share your grief,” Mayor of Srinagar Junaid Azim Mattu tweeted.

Government spokesperson Rohit Kansal also confirmed the death via Twitter.

“First death due to coronavirus- 65 years old male from Hyderpora Srinagar.  Four of his contacts also tested positive yesterday,” Kansal said.

Four people had tested positive for coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases to 11.

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Authorities in Kashmir have expressed apprehensions that the cases could be more than reported in the Valley as a significant number of people appeared to have concealed their travel history.

As per a government bulletin on Wednesday in Jammu and Kashmir, as many as 5,124 travellers and people who came in contact with suspected and positive cases have been put under surveillance.

Among them 3,061 are in home quarantine (including facilities operated by the government), 80 in hospital quarantine and 1,477 in home surveillance.

Restrictions on movement imposed in Kashmir to prevent the spread of coronavirus were tightened on Wednesday.

(With inputs from agencies)