Worker who returned from Mumbai dies of suspected Covid-19 in Jharkhand

A 19-year-old migrant worker who had returned from Mumbai, died of respiratory complications late Saturday night in Jharkhand’s Koderma district prompting officials to send his samples for Covid-19 test.

“The youth had come from Mumbai privately on a truck on May 16 and went straight to his village in Satgawa block. When it came to our knowledge, he was picked up and sent to the quarantine centre set up at the block’s Panchayat Bhawan,” said Koderma deputy commissioner Ramesh Gholakh.

He added, “On Saturday, he developed some Covid-19 symptoms including respiratory trouble and dysentery and was brought to the district’s Sadar hospital for treatment. His condition further deteriorated and he was shifted to the city’s Jaiprakash Hospital for better treatment but he died late night.”

“Since he had symptoms of coronavirus infection, his samples were taken for testing to confirm if the death was due to pandemic,” the deputy commissioner said, adding, “Test result is awaited.”

The body was reportedly cremated as per the health department’s protocol for Covid-19 casualties.

Koderma district had reported its first Covid-19 death on Saturday after another migrant worker, who too had returned from Mumbai, tested positive for SARS-COV-2 virus after his death on Thursday.

The 39-year-old man had died of cardiac arrest on May 21. Since he came from Mumbai, a Covid-19 hotspot, his samples were taken and tested for Covid-19. The test report, which came on Saturday, showed positive.

Jharkhand has so far reported 353 positive cases including 141 recoveries and four deaths.

On Sunday, three more positive cases were reported from East Singhbhum district taking the state’s tally to 353.