Ranchi: A 75-year-old man died of coronavirus in Bokaro district, the first Covid-19 fatality reported in Jharkhand, a health official said on Thursday.
The state also recorded a steep jump in number of positive Covid-19 cases on Thursday after nine people-- five from Ranchi and four from Bokaro--were found infected with novel coronavirus infection bringing the tally of positive cases in the state to 13 including one death.
The deceased, a resident of village Saran under Bokaro’s Gomia block, was tested positive late on Wednesday night. He had allegedly no travel history and no contact with any positive case.
“The old man had acute respiratory problem. He was kept in quarantine at BGH. As per the reports, he showed some sign of improvement on Wednesday but his condition deteriorated late night and he died in morning,” said Bokaro deputy commissioner (DC) Mukesh Kumar.
The DC added, “The deceased’s family members have been denying if the man had some travel history. We are investigating on this aspect. No one from this region has so far tested positive for Covid-19. We have quarantined all family members and intensified contact tracing exercise and screening of residents of the area further.”