Visakhapatnam reports first co-morbid COVID-19 death

51-year old woman dies of COVID-19 in Visakhapatnam, body shifted to crematorium as per protocol. Pre-existing diseases believed to be cause of death. KGH ready for any health emergency.

After nearly two years, a case of COVID-19 death has been reported in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday.

According to the AP State Health Department official sources, a 51-year old woman is believed to have died of COVID-19 while undergoing treatment at KGH here in the early hours on Tuesday. Her body was immediately shifted to the Chavulamadum crematorium yard, near the Visakhapatnam railway station, for cremation as per the COVID-19 protocol.

The woman, resident of Kancharapalem, was first admitted to the Government Chest Hospital here with health issues in her respiratory system. Upon testing positive for COVID-19, she was transferred to the KGH's special COVID-19 ward, where she died at around 3 am. on Tuesday.

KGH superintendent Dr. P. Ashok Kumar, in an official statement, said that the woman was admitted to the Chest Hospital on December 22 with ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) along with Acute Kidney Failure and MODS (Multi Organ Dysfunction Syndrome).

“A COVID-19 test was also conducted as part of routine investigation and the RTPCR sample was found positive,” Dr. Ashok said.

For further management and dialysis, the patient was referred to King George Hospital and admitted on December 24.

“We provided the best treatment, the sample was sent to Vijayawada Central Laboratory for Corona Genome determination, and are waiting for the result. But despite our best efforts, we could not save the patient and declared her dead at 3 AM on December 26,” Dr. Ashok said.