Image Source: Manorama

A 36-year-old man, who returned to Kerala’s Cochin from Malaysia with symptoms of flu and breathlessness, died on Saturday, a day after he tested negative for the deadly coronavirus, doctors said.

The man had landed at the international airport in Cochin on Thursday night and was rushed to the isolation ward at the Government Medical College Hospital. He had been working in Malaysia for the last three years.

According to doctors, the man died of pneumonia and chest congestion as they were waiting for the test result of his second sample from a laboratory.

“In the preliminary investigation, we found he developed acute pneumonia and respiratory distress syndrome. We also understood that he was diabetic. Blood sugar can flare up when there is an acute infection,” said Dr. Ganesh Mohanan, a senior doctor of the Government Medical College Hospital.

“We suspect he died of pneumonia and diabetic ketoacidosis wherein the body cannot produce insulin,” Dr. Mohanan said.

His samples had tested negative at the Virology Institute in Alappuzha for H1NI and COVID-19. His second sample was resent to ensure he was not infected by coronavirus, doctors said.