Srinagar: An elderly man from Sopore detected of coronavirus died at SKIMS Medical College-Hospital, Bemina on Friday taking Covid-19 death tally in Jammu and Kashmir to five.

Officials said Jammu and Kashmir has also recorded 14 new Covid-19 cases on Friday taking the total number of cases to 328 in the region.

They said a resident of Arampora village in Sopore died at the SKIMS Bemina in the afternoon after being admitted there for Covid-19 almost a fortnight ago. He had tested positive for the new virus on April 2 at the virology lab of SKIMS Soura after returning from Saudi Arabia last month.

Medical Superintendent SKIMS Bemina, Dr Shifa Deva said the patient died around 12.30 pm after his condition deteriorated suddenly.

“The patient died today in the isolation facility of the hospital due to sudden respiratory arrest,” she said.

“The patient was put on the oxygen therapy at the ‘high dependency ward’ of the hospital after being received at the emergency early this month,” MS said.

“He was complaining of breathlessness and had pneumonia. He was also suffering from other comorbidities including diabetes, hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) which worsened his condition,” Deva said.

With his death, the total Covid-19 related death reaches five in Jammu and Kashmir. Of the five Covid-19 deaths in the region, three are from Baramulla, one each from Bandipora, and Udhampur districts.

Nodal Officer for Covid-19 at Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar, Dr Salim Khan told Kashmir Reader that three patients have tested positive for novel Corovirus at Chest Diseases Hospital on Friday out of 619 tests done during 24 hours.

“The samples that tested positive were received from District Hospital Shopian,” he said.

Medical Superintendent SKIMS Soura, Dr Farooq A Jan told Kashmir Reader that eleven patients have tested positive Covid-19 at SKIMS’s virology lab today.

“Among the 11 new cases, nine are from Bandipora and two from Kupwara,” he said.

“We have processed 210 swab samples of Covid-19 suspects of which 11 detected positive,” MS said.

Manzoor ul-Hassan