COVID-19 patient from West Bengal died of cancer: Odisha govt

The Odisha government said a 70-year-old man from West Bengal, who died at a special COVID-19 hospital here on Tuesday, had recovered from novel coronavirus and the cause of his death was cancer.

The man, a resident of Midnapore in West Bengal, was brought to Bhubaneswar in an ambulance and admitted to the private hospital where he tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month. Since the man had recovered from the highly infectious disease by testing negative twice, his demise will not be considered as COVID-19 death, the Odisha government’s COVID-19 spokesperson, Subroto Bagchi, said.

“Though the man from West Bengal was detected as a COVID-19 case, he had recovered from the disease. He had other infections and died of cancer. Therefore, we maintain the COVID-19 death toll at one,” Bagchi said during the daily briefing here.

The state government in a separate communication said the West Bengal resident had previously been operated at the private hospital in Bhubaneswar for a pituitary tumour. He had gone to the private hospital for follow-up treatment and tested positive for COVID-19, the official said, adding after treatment, he tested negative for COVID-19 in two consecutive tests.

“Although, he had recovered from COVID-19, he could not be discharged due to his other pre-existing medical complaints. He passed away this morning due to hypopituitarism with septic shock and multi-organ failure,” the state government statement said.

The state government said the 70-year-old man had been shifted to the private hospital in Bhubaneswar on April 7 from a hospital in Midnapore.

The ambulance carrying him had stopped at a tea stall at Balasore bypass between 5 am and 7 am on April 8. He was admitted to the hospital here on April 8 morning and kept in isolation. He tested positive for COVID-19 on April 9, the government statement said. Later, he was shifted to KIMS COVID-19 Hospital in Bhubaneswar on April 9, it added. Odisha reported its first COVID-19 death on April 6.

The deceased was a 72-year-old retired government employee from Jharpada area in the state capital. He died at AIIMS, Bhubaneswar and his funeral was conducted as per government protocol. The state has reported 79 COVID-19 cases, out of which 49 cases are active, 29 recovered and one died due to the disease.

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