Kottayam: Panic gripped Chengalam in Kottayam district when a man, who lived close to the home of a coronavirus-infected patient, died on Friday.
The cause of death will be ascertained after the autopsy. His body fluids have been sent for medical examination. The results will be out in two days.
According to health officials, the deceased was healthy but showed signs of discomfort on Thursday night. He breathed his last at the Kottayam Medical College Hospital.
Meanwhile, Kottayam district collector informed that the man died of heart attack.
The deceased man's neighbour, who is being treated for COVID-19 at the isolation ward at the Kottayam Medical College, had contracted the virus from one of the three persons who returned from Italy recently.
A 25-year-old man, his 55-year-old father and 53-year-old mother had landed at the Cochin International Airport from Italy on February 29. They had concealed their travel details and exited the airport without undergoing preliminary health checks. A week later, their body fluid tests returned positive for the virus and were taken to the Kottayam Medical College Hospital. By the time, they had contacted hundreds of people in the district.
The health department had on Thursday released a route map of the places visited by two COVID-19 patients from Chengalam between February 29 and March 8 before they were admitted to the hospital.
People evacuated
Health officials have urged people to keep a safe distance from the dead body and evacuated people from the neighbourhood.
Till Thursday, 16 coronavirus infections were confirmed in the State. As many as 4,180 people were kept under observation in various health faculties across the State.
COVID-19, which stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019, is the name of the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2. SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the Coronavirus family with crown-shaped spikes on its surfaces. The name of the disease was given by the World Health Organisation.
