Bedridden, Paralysed Hyderabad Man With No Travel History Dies After Contracting Covid-19

In a case which has increased the worries of Telangana Health Department officials, a 44-year-old paralysed and bedridden man with no travel history died, earlier this month in Hyderabad, after testing positive for novel coronavirus.

Since the day he succumbed to the infection, the district medical teams are struggling with the herculean task of tracing the source from where the man could have possibly contracted the deadly virus.

His family of three members, with no travel history or suspected contacts, have tested negative for the Covid-19.

Such cases are now raising concerns of ‘community transmission’ in the state. The Telangana government, however, has been assuring that there is no such situation of ‘community transmission’ so far in the state.

The man was admitted to a Hyderabad-based private hospital on March 26 and was being treated for cardiac issues. He was later shifted to the state-run Osmania General Hospital for the further treatment.

The patient, who was later tested positive in Osmania Hospital, was then admitted to the Gandhi Hospital – the only Covid-19 hospital in Telangana.

“He is being treated here for two years now and he cannot even move without help due to paralaysis. The family told us that they could not afford the treatment in this hospital, so we moved him to a government hospital. He showed no symptoms when he was here,” a doctor, who works in the private hospital told News18, on condition of anonymity.

As a precautionary measure, about 14 health professionals, including doctors, nurses, radiology lab technician, housekeeping staff from the private hospital, have been quarantined. On being tested for the virus, all of them have tested negative.

According to sources from the district health team, the man died on the way while being shifted to the Gandhi hospital. He was a resident of one of the hotspot areas in Musheerabad in Hyderabad city.

“Frankly, we don’t know how exactly he may have contracted it. It’s tough to identify at this point, considering we are not totally aware of the behavior of the virus,” Nagender, Osmania Hospital Superintendent, told News18.

The state government had said that they are in the process of identifying the primary, secondary and also tertiary contacts of people who tested positive.

About 50 per cent of the total cases reported in Telangana are from Hyderabad.