Bengal's fourth Covid-19 patient in critical condition, put on

The fourth man who tested positive for Covid-19 in West Bengal is in critical condition and has been put on ventilator, sources at a city hospital, where he is undergoing treatment, said.

The 57-year-old man, a resident of Dum Dum area in North 24 Parganas district, was diagnosed positive for Covid- 19 on Saturday. He was admitted to the hospital on March 16 with fever and dry cough.

"He is in critical condition and has been put on ventilator. Our doctors are trying their level best... He is under observation 24x7, a senior official of the private hospital said.

The man has acute respiratory distress syndrome, the official said.

"We are taking protective measures.... The patient is currently at an ICU that has been specially set up for coronavirus cases," he added.

Family members, who have been placed under quarantine, said the man had not travelled to any foreign country recently, following which police personnel visited his home for verification of the claim.

Initial investigations suggested that the man has a son who works abroad, but he has not visited home in the recent past, a source in the police department said.

His daughter-in-law, however, paid a visit sometime ago, the source said.

According to officials of the South Dum Dum Municipality, however, the patients son, who stays in Italy, had flown down to Kolkata recently.

According to a health official, he had come in contact with someone who returned from abroad.

"He got infected from someone who came from abroad or someone here who already has the disease... We are looking into it," the official said.

Three other Covid-19 patients, currently admitted in Beleghata ID hospital, are responding well to the treatment, he added.

As the number of confirmed cases in the state rose to four, the government suspended interstate bus sevices and ordered the shutdown of a host of public places including restaurants, bars, nightclubs, amusement parks, massage parlours, museums and zoos, till March 31.