Coronavirus: 70-year-old is first from Mumbai to be cured?

70-year-old man from the western suburbs, who was the first patient to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, along with his wife, tested negative for the virus in his

70-year-old man from the western suburbs, who was the first patient to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, along with his wife, tested negative for the virus in his swab test report on Monday, becoming the likely first patient from the city to be cured of Covid-19.

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“Amid the chaos, we are happy to say that our medical intervention has worked. The man who was positive for the virus till Sunday, tested negative on Monday. This is a huge achievement for us,” said a senior officer from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

However, the BMC is waiting to run a second test for reconfirmation. “Once we get the second confirmation, we will discharge the patient,” said the officer.

He is currently undergoing treatment at the civic-run Kasturba Gandhi Hospital, along with his wife, whose report has come positive for the virus, but is stable.

All the tests have been conducted at the hospital laboratory. Along with symptomatic medicines, he was given swine flu drugs, Tamiflu, as per the guidelines issued by the central health department.

Following this, the BMC quarantined six people who were in close contact with the Pune couple.

When HT had spoken to the man, he had stated that he didn’t know that travelling to

Dubai was unsafe and when he booked the tickets, the travel operators didn’t him about the outbreak of the virus across the globe.

“I hope this gives hope to people who are getting scared of the outbreak,” said the officer.

Despite repeated tries, HT couldn’t contact the man.