COVID-19: Four Malayalis die abroad

When the state is fighting the Covid-19 pandemic resourcefully, four Malayalis overseas have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus in the past 48 hours.
Image for representation.
Image for representation.

KOCHI: When the state is fighting the COVID-19 pandemic resourcefully, four Malayalis overseas have lost their lives to the novel coronavirus in the past 48 hours. The number of Non-Resident Keralites succumbing to the disease has risen to 10.

On Sunday alone, three Malayalis died -- two in the United States and one in Ireland. One person died in Saudi Arabia late on Saturday, according to reports reaching here. Fifty-four-year-old Beena George -- a nurse in Ireland, and a native of Kuruppanthara, Kottayam -- contracted Covid-19 while under treatment for cancer in the European country. Shawn Abraham (21), a native of Tiruvalla, Pathanamthitta, died in New York. 

Having gone abroad for studies, Shawn fell to the deadly virus after being in observation over the past week. The other Malayalee who died in the US is Thankachan Enchanattu (51), a native of Muttom, Thodupuzha. Thankachan was an employee of the New York Metropolitan Transport Authority and was living in Queens.

Late on Saturday, Safwan (41) — a native of Chemmad, Malappuram -- died after contracting the virus in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. A driver in the Gulf country, Safwan was under treatment at the Saudi German Hospital following high fever. He was confirmed Covid-19 positive on Friday. The immediate cause of his death is heart attack, according to reports reaching here.

His wife, who went to Saudi Arabia to join her husband on March 8 on a visiting visa, has also been admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms. Last week, six Malayalis -- two in the US and one each in Saudi Arabia, Britain, Dubai and Mumbai -- had died of the coronavirus infection outside Kerala. In contrast, the total number of deaths in the state due to Covid-19 is two despite the state being the first in the country to report coronavirus cases.

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