Covid-19 update: 68-year-old Hoshiarpur man dies, is Punjab’s second coronavirus fatality

Coronavirus update: The Hoshiarpur man who died of Covid-19 infection had diabetes and was suffering from hypertension, said Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, special chief secretary of Punjab.

A 68-year-old Hoshiarpur man succumbed to Covid-19 infection at the Guru Nanak Dev hospital (GNDH) in Amritsar on Sunday, taking the death toll due to the respiratory virus to two in the state.

Police personnel check commuters for curfew passes in Punjab’s Ludhiana on day 5 of the 21-day nationwide lockdown to check the spread of coronavirus. (Gurpreet Singh/HT Photo)

Amritsar civil surgeon Dr Prabhdeep Kaur Johal said Harbhajan Singh, a resident of Moranwali village in Garshankar sub-division, was a close contact of Banga ‘ragi’ Baldev Singh who had died of coronavirus on March 18. Harbhajan had tested positive for virus on March 21 and was admitted to the Hoshiarpur civil hospital.

The patient was referred to the GNDH, a unit of government medical college, on March 23 as his condition showed no improvement.

In a tweet, Karan Bir Singh Sidhu, special chief secretary of Punjab, said, “He (Harbhajan) was medically vulnerable as he was suffering from diabetes and hypertension”. “His sugar was fluctuating and was not in control”, said Anurag Aggarwal, health secretary.

“The patient was complaining of fever, cough and breathlessness. During his stay, his blood sugar was controlled with regular insulin and dietary management. On March 28, the patient developed acute breathlessness. On pulmonologist’s opinion, he was given high-form oxygen supplementation. At 8 pm on Sunday, patient developed cardiac arrest, and despite all measures, he could not be revived. He was declared dead at 8.30 pm”, GNDH medical superintendent Dr Raman Sharma said.