Maharashtra records highest spike in toll; number of deaths at 45

Another 70-year-old woman died within hours of being admitted to KEM hospital on Saturday. She was suffering from breathlessness and vomiting, and was already a case of hypertension, diabetes and kidney disease. She suffered respiratory failure on Saturday.

A 52-year-old man was admitted to Kasturba hospital on April 3 for fever, sore throat and breathlessness. He was already suffering from hypertension and diabetes. He died on Saturday, and his throat swab tested positive on Sunday.

A 64-year-old man, admitted to Kasturba hospital on April 3, also died on Saturday evening. He suffered breathlessness and fever. He had tested positive on April 3.

A 77-year-old man admitted to Kasturba hospital on March 29 for fever, cough and breathlessness died on Saturday evening. He too suffered from hypertension and diabetes. On Saturday, he suffered respiratory failure.

In Nair hospital, a 62-year-old man died on April 1, six days after being hospitalised. On April 2, his samples tested positive. Doctors said he suffered from hypertension and diabetes.

Two other patients died in private hospitals. An 80-year-old, who suffered from epilepsy, diabetes and hypertension, died on Saturday morning, four days after being hospitalised. Another 55-year-old man died on March 31 at a private hospital in Chembur, five days after being hospitalised.

Asked why these deaths were confirmed so late, Dr Daksha Shah, deputy executive health officer, said their medical history was analysed to assess whether COVID-19 directly led to their death or other illness.

In Pune, three deaths were reported on Sunday with the toll at five now. Between Saturday night and 6 pm on Sunday, 21 people tested positive with the total number of cases in Pune district at 104.

According to Dr Ajay Chandanwale, dean, BJ Medical College and Sassoon General Hospital, a 52-year-old man from Kasewadi in Bhawani Peth was admitted on April 3 with severe symptoms of breathlessness. His swab tested positive on April 4 and he died of the infection.

In another case, a 60-year-old woman had tested negative four days ago at Naidu hospital. She is from Laxminagar at Yerawada and was discharged. However, she came to Sassoon in a critical condition and was declared brought dead late on Saturday. Her swab has tested positive, said district collector Naval Kishore Ram, adding that those at a critical stage could not be saved.

Another 69-year-old woman from Gultekdi had undergone a gall bladder operation at Pune Adventist Hospital on March 31. Since she had symptoms of breathlessness, her swab was sent for tests and results showed she was COVID-19 positive on April 1. The post-operative patient was moved to Naidu hospital, which later sent the patient to Aundh district hospital. Authorities said she died on Sunday morning and the health department authorities will decide if her death was due to COVID-19.

At the government medical college in Aurangabad, a 58-year-old woman died after visiting Mumbai. She had no other travel history. She suffered from hypertension, was a heart patient and also had diabetes.

Four more from Buldhana district tested positive, taking the total number to nine in the district. The four patients were part of the Tablighi Jamaat congregation, which took place at Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi last month.

“We received four more positive reports on Sunday. They have travel history to Delhi in connection with the programme at Nizamuddin,” said collector Suman Chandra. With this, Buldhana has emerged as the second largest COVID-19 hotspot in Vidarbha after Nagpur, which has 17 cases so far with four recoveries.

Yavatmal has three recoveries, while Washim and Gondia have one active positive case each.

Till Sunday, 56 patients in the state were discharged after recovering from COVID-19. The state is slowly increasing its testing capacity each day. On Sunday, at least 3,122 people were under quarantine at hostels, government buildings and hospitals. So far, 14,837 samples have tested negative in the state.