Batala man travelling from Malaysia to Amritsar declared dead on arrival

Cause of death not known yet, blood and throat swab samples sent for Covid-19 testing

A native of Batala, who returned to Amritsar from Malaysia, was declared dead after his flight landed at Shri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport here in the wee hours of Sunday.

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Hukum Singh, 41, had gone to Kuala Lumpur on a work visa on October 23, 2019, said his brother Harpal Singh. He took a flight from Malaysia on Saturday and reached the Amritsar airport at 12.30am.

Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Parbdeep Kaur Johal said immediately after landing, the passenger was shifted to a hospital near the airport where doctors declared him brought dead. The exact cause of the death will be known only after the post-mortem, she added.

Singh’s family members said he complained of a sudden chest pain in the flight. A message was conveyed to the airport authorities in Amritsar and an ambulance was kept ready.

Dr Arun Sharma, senior medical officer of Amritsar civil hospital said: “It is a possibility that the passenger could have died due to coronavirus, but it is too early to reach a conclusion. The exact cause of his death will be ascertained after the post-mortem. As a precautionary measure, we have sent his blood and throat swab samples for Covid-19 test to viral research and diagnostic laboratory in Amritsar.”

Two Punjab residents who returned from Germany have been admitted to the isolation ward of the Guru Nanak Dev Hospital (GNDH), Amritsar.

“A 24-year-old man was fine when he reached the Delhi airport but he complained of cough and fever when doctors were screening him at the Amritsar airport. He was rushed him to isolation ward of GNDH and his samples are being tested,” said the civil surgeon.

“On Saturday, four foreign tourists were quarantined at the rehabilitation centre in Amritsar. Of them, a 73-year-old man, who also returned from Germany, showed symptoms of coronavirus. He has been shifted to GNDH isolation ward and his samples are too being tested,” she said.

Meanwhile, Punjab’s only confirmed Covid-19 patient, a 44-year-old Italy-returned Hoshiarpur man, is recovering in the isolation ward of GNDH, said hospital authorities on Sunday. He tested positive of Covid-19 on March 9. “We will send his blood and throat swab samples to NIV, Pune, next week for testing,” said medical superintendent, GNDH, Raman Sharma.

(With PTI inputs)