Number of Covid-19 cases in India climbs to 467, death toll rises to nine
1 min read 23 Mar 2020, 09:03 PM ISTThe latest death happened in Himachal PradeshMaharashtra alone accounts for 97 cases
PremiumDeath toll due to Covid-19 rose to nine and number of cases climbed to 467, including 424 active cases, said Union Health Ministry in its latest update on Monday.
Maharashtra alone accounts for 97 cases.
Himachal Pradesh on Monday saw the first death of a 69-year-old Tibetan man, who recently returned from the US, owing to coronavirus, health officials said.
Tenjin Chopel was undergoing treatment in the state-owned Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College in Tanda town of Kangra district.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) R.D. Dhiman said the patient was earlier undergoing treatment in a private hospital.
He was hospitalized in the Dr Rajendra Prasad Government Medical College on Monday morning. After his death, his swab samples confirmed that he was Covid-19 positive.
He reached the Delhi international airport on March 15. After spending some days in Delhi he reached McLeodganj, the abode of Tibetan spiritual the Dalai Lama's abode on March 21 while hiring a cab.
A day after putting the state's most populous Kangra district under lockdown, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Monday extended the shutdown in the entire state.
Another coronavirus-related death took place on Monday as well as a 57-year-old man, who had tested positive for the coronavirus last week, was on ventilation. He was among the seven Covid-19 patients in the state.
A resident of Dumdum in the North 24 Parganas district, he died at a private hospital.
Meanwhile, a controversy has erupted over the mans travel history, with his family members claiming he had not gone abroad recently. They said he had only visited Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh this February.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, however, told an all party meeting that the man and his family, currently in the isolation ward of a state-run hospital, had travelled to Italy, which has now emerged as an epicentre of the disease in Europe.
Following his death, Banerjee ordered the authorities to conduct his last rites immediately in order to stop the virus from spreading.
According to health officials, the body of the man will not be handed over to his fanmily and his last rites will be conducted Monday night in accordance with the protocol for deaths from pandemic diseases.
With inputs from agencies
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