An 85-year-old man from the district who was being treated for COVID-19 at Government Medical College Hospital (MCH), Manjeri, died on Saturday morning.
Health authorities claimed that he had been cured and that his death was not due to COVID-19. They said he suffered from multiple ailments and died of cardiac arrest. He had a normal burial at his place on Saturday.
The octogenarian from Kariyamad, near Poonthanam, in Keezhattur panchayat was admitted to the MCH on April 2 after he was tested positive for COVID-19. He had been under treatment for heart ailment for some time now.
The Health authorities said he was found negative in the COVID-19 tests conducted on April 7, 10 and 13. Minister for Higher Education K.T. Jaleel refused to count it as the third COVID-19 death in Kerala.
In a medical bulletin released here on Saturday, the district authorities said the man had been shifted to step-down ICU on April 11. He suffered severe chest pain and breathlessness on April 13 afternoon, and that he was found to have suffered a cardiac arrest in ECG and echo tests.
He had an acute kidney injury in a test conducted on April 14. He was soon given ventilator support. A team of nephrologists from Government Medical College, Kozhikode, treated him with dialysis.
After a slight improvement, he suffered severe fever on April 16 and was found to have urinary infection. He was diagnosed with septicemia and multi organ failure (MOF) syndrome on Friday. According to the medical bulletin, he breathed his last in the early hours of Saturday.
How he contracted COVID-19 continues to be a riddle for the Health authorities. It was earlier suspected that he was infected from his son who had returned from Saudi Arabia after Umra pilgrimage in March. But the son was tested negative for COVID-19.
A vigil has been sounded at Keezhattur and neighbouring panchayats as his son was found to have visited several places and taken part in several gatherings after his return from abroad.
