Fears over progression of coronavirus allayed

The district administration on Thursday allayed the fears that novel coronavirus infection could have reached the third stage after the second death reported in the city by tracing the travel history of the 65-year-old fruit vendor who died of COVID-19 on Tuesday night.

Deputy Commissioner B Sharat categorically said, “We are tracing the travel history and primary contacts of the positive cases. There is no need for the people to panic".

According to a reliable source, the COVID-19 victim had been to Pune recently to meet his daughter. But neither the victim nor his family members had alerted the district administration after his return. The death occurred due to the negligence as the patient was treated in a private hospital until his health condition worsened. He was shifted to ESIC Hospital at the eleventh hour. But he breathed his last after failing to respond to the treatment, the source said.

The results of the 57-year-old hardware businessman’s tests, which came positive, had the district administration on tenterhooks as he had neither the travel history nor had he returned from the religious congregation. However, the authorities eventually traced how he and his 72-year-old mother were infected with the deadly virus, the source said.