Kerala reports first coronavirus death in Kochi; toll rises to 20

A 69-year-old man died due to COVID-19 at Kochi Medical College on Saturday (March 28).

Confirming the death, Ernakulam District Medical Officer Dr NK Kuttappan said, “This is the first death in Kerala due to coronavirus.”

The patient had returned from Dubai recently.

“He arrived in Kerala on March 16 and was tested positive for the coronavirus on March 22,” Manorama quoted nodal officer A Fathahudeen as saying.

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Nearly 49 others who had travelled in the same flight with the deceased have been kept under observation following his death.

Reports claimed that a close relative and the driver, who picked him from the airport, had also tested positive.

The statement from the hospital read, he was admitted with symptoms of pneumonia but later tested positive for coronavirus. He was also suffering from heart disease and high blood pressure and had udergone a bypass surgery earlier, it said.” He breathed his last at 8 am. The body has been handed over to the relatives,” the statement said.

There were 873 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 775 active cases and 19 casualties, as of 9:30 am on March 28, according to the Union health ministry.

(With inputs from agencies)