Jharkhand reports its first COVID-19 death in current wave

Ranchi: Jharkhand reported its first COVID-19 death as a 44-year-old man, who had tested positive for the infection, died in the state capital Ranchi, health officials said on Tuesday.

He was undergoing treatment at the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences here.

"The patient was suffering from multiple diseases and also tested positive for COVID-19," Ranchi civil surgeon Prabhat Kumar told news agency.

Another health official said that the man was suffering from aspirational pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, septic shock, hypertension and hypothyroidism.

According to a health department bulletin, Jharkhand currently has six active COVID-19 cases. As many as nine patients have recovered from the disease since January 1 this year.

The state's first COVID-19 case of the current wave was reported on May 24 after a person, who had returned from Mumbai, tested positive for the infection.

The Ranchi administration also issued an advisory last month as a precaution against rising cases of COVID-19.

The administration urged people to wear masks if they have symptoms like runny nose, sore throat, headache or fever. It also asked people to wear masks in crowded places.

People over 60 years of age, or those with heart diseases, diabetes, weakened immune systems, tuberculosis, chronic lung, kidney, or liver diseases, obesity, or who are unvaccinated, should take extra precautions, it stated.