Philippines Citizen Cured Of Coronavirus Dies Of Kidney Failure In Mumbai Hospital

As the number of coronavirus cases sees a sharp surge in India, Mumbai registered the death of a foreign citizen who was cured of COVID-19 infection on Monday. The 68-year-old died at a private hospital in Maharashtra capital due to kidney failure. The officials maintain that the man had tested negative for COVID-19 after mandatory 14-day isolation. It was only after he was tested negative that he was shifted to a private hospital. "A 68-year-old Philippines citizen, initially tested positive but subsequently become negative, expired yesterday night. He was shifted from Kasturba to a private hospital. He was a case of diabetes and asthma. He was admitted on March 13 with symptoms. He had developed acute renal failure and respiratory distress," the official statement said. (Coronavirus Outbreak LIVE Updates)

As of Monday, the tally of confirmed COVID-19 cases stood at 429 with seven deaths across India. Half of urban India has been placed under lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra are some of the states that have been placed under lockdown. On Sunday, with the threat of stage-3 community transmission looming over, the Union health ministry decided to impose total lockdown in as many as 75 districts across India. These districts cover almost entire urban India.

The situation is particularly worrisome in Maharashtra. As of Monday, 89 cases were reported from Maharashtra.  Section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed by the Uddhav Thackeray government to curb mass gatherings. For the first time, services of Mumbai local, known as the lifeline of the Maximum City have been halted to prevent mass movement. Though the World Health Organisation has said that the lockdowns may not be the solution for COVID-19 spread, the fact of the matter is that the world over, governments are resorting to shutdowns to stop the spread of the highly contagious virus. 

Meanwhile, over 150 chickens were rescued in Jalgaon in Maharashtra after authorities got a tip-off that their owner planned to bury them amid the novel coronavirus scare, an official said on Monday. The rescue was carried out by a team of the district deputy commissioner and PETA activists on Friday in Paladhi area, over 400 kilometres from Mumbai, he added. Some days ago, a poultry farmer in Palghar had buried two lakh chicks after which orders were issued by the state Animal Husbandry department to take action under Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act.

(With agency inputs)