Coronavirus victim visited three hospitals in Hyderabad; See how he travelled

Hyderabad: The 76-year-old Karnataka man, Mohammed Hussain Siddiqui, who died of Coronavirus on 12 March had visited three private hospitals in Hyderabad, sources said. He is the first victim of COVID-19 in India. Hospital authorities and health officials in Hyderabad have started the ‘contact tracing’ process as a precautionary measure.

'Patient visited three private hospitals in Hyderabad'

Siddiqui had visited Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills and Citi Neuro Centre and Care hospital in Banjara Hills. Officials of Care Hospital said he had acute respiratory distress syndrome, high temperature, and cough and had left the hospital on 9 March against medical advice. In a statement released on 13 March, the hospital authorities said Siddiqui had visited the emergency unit of the hospital and had left “at the insistence of his family members”.

Care hospital staff said the patient was “immediately shifted to an isolation room, equipped with negative air pressure and HEPA air filters as per international guidelines to prevent any further transmission. The healthcare professionals who attended to the patient had observed complete PPE (personal protective equipment) protocol.”

The hospital authorities had advised that the patient be admitted to the critical care isolation unit. However, his family had refused and decided to take him back to his native place on 10 March. The patient died en route to his native place in Kalburgi, officials said.

As a precautionary measure, all personnel at Care Hospital who were suspected of having been in contact with the man have been put under “home quarantine”.

An official associated with Apollo Hospital in Jubilee Hills said that the 76-year-old man was at the hospital only for "fleeting moments". "We did not have information that someone infected with COVID-19 was coming to our hospital. Nevertheless, he was directly taken to the emergency ward, from where they immediately left. All the health officials have taken precautionary measures while the patient was here," he said.

How the 76-year-old man travelled

On 12 March, Karnataka health minister B. Sriramulu confirmed that the 76-year-old deceased had tested COVID-19 positive. “The 76-year-old man from Kalburgi who passed away & was a suspected #COVID19 patient has been Confirmed for #COVID19. The necessary contact tracing, isolation & other measures as per protocol are being carried out,” he tweeted.

Siddiqui had left for Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on a holy pilgrimage on 29 January. A month later, on 29 February, he landed at the Hyderabad airport where he was screened. However, since he did not show any symptoms of COVID-19, he had left for Kalaburagi, which is around 230 km away from Hyderabad. On March 5, Siddiqui began to show symptoms of Coronavirus and was admitted to Sunrise Hospital, a private hospital in Gulbarga. Four days later, he was taken to Hyderabad and his blood samples were sent for tests to Bengaluru.