India may have its first casualty from the deadly COVID-19 coronavirus as 33-year-old labourer from Murshidabad, West Bengal who had recently returned from Saudi Arabia died on Sunday. He had returned to India on Saturday and was admitted to Murshidabad Medical College as he was suffering from cough, fever and breathlessness. His swab tests were sent to medical college in Kolkata on for tests. The tests are expected on Monday.
The victim died within 8 hours of landing in India. According to his family members, he was a diabetic. When he developed flu-like symptoms in Saudi Arabia, he panicked and rushed back to India as soon as he could. However, Director of Health Services, Ajay Chakraborty, told news agency PTI and the man quite likely died of diabetes as he was highly diabetic and on insulin.
Till now, no one in West Bengal has tested positive for the deadly virus which has claimed lives of thousands of people worldwide, leaving over a lakh people infected. As per reports, a 21-year-old Murshidabad man, who worked as a sweeper in Saudi Arabia and returned from Dubai on Sunday morning was also admitted to a hospital as he showed flu-like symptoms.
These cases in West Bengal come days after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the central government is trying to ‘divert attention‘ from Delhi riots by ‘creating coronavirus panic’. While addressing a rally in Buniadpur, South Dinajpur district earlier this month, Banerjee said “that some channels are hyping coronavirus to cover up the Delhi riots. It’s the disease people should not panic, it’s a concern worldwide… those dead in Delhi violence did not die in coronavirus, they were killed by BJP.”
A 3-year-old boy in Kerala was tested positive for coronavirus this morning taking total positive cases in India to 40. As of now, there has been no confirmed case of death due to coronavirus in India.
