Covid-positive journalist jumps to death from hospital
IANS/New Delhi: A 37-year-old journalist, who had tested positive for the coronavirus, jumped to death from the fourth floor of Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences yesterday, officials said.
He died at 3.35pm, nearly one-and-a-half hour after jumping from the hospital’s trauma centre .
The journalist was admitted to the Covid ward of the trauma centre on June 24 after he had tested positive for the virus.
Hospital authorities said he was making significant progress and had planned to shift him to the general ward yesterday.
According to an AIIMS statement, the journalist ran from Ward No 1 of the trauma centre to the fourth floor, broke the windowpane and jumped.
The hospital said the attendants tried to stop him.
“He was immediately moved to the trauma centre’s ICU where he was intubated, and resuscitation was tried, but unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries,” the statement said.
The hospital also said that the journalist bouts of hallucination during the treatment and said it could have been because of a brain surgery he had in March.
He is survived by his wife and two children.
He was a principal correspondent of a leading Hindi daily and used to cover health and civic bodies in Delhi.
Meanwhile, a Goa police constable who recovered from Covid-19 and rejoined duty at Mormugao police station was given a hero’s welcome yesterday.
Director General of Police Mukesh Kumar Meena tweeted a short video of Manjunath Yaragatti being given a guard of honour by his colleagues, who also showered marigold petals.
“PC Manjunath Yaragatti returns to a warm welcome by his colleagues at PS Mormugao. He has recovered from Covid and is as fit as always. Remember, we are fighting the disease not the infected,” Meena tweeted.
Nearly 50 police personnel, including around 30 from the Ponda police station in South Goa district alone, have tested positive for Covid-19.
l Former Tamil Nadu minister and senior All India Anna dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader B Valarmathi yesterday tested positive for the coronavirus infection and has been admitted to a private hospital in Chennai, an official said.
Valarmathi is the chairman of the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corp and AIADMK’s literary wing secretary.
According to a hospital official, Valarmathi’s condition is stable.
She is the sixth AIADMK leader to be infected with the coronavirus.
Earlier, five lawmakers, including Higher Education Minister K P Anbalagan had tested positive for the virus.
l Veteran Karnataka Congress leader B Janardhana Poojary tested positive for the coronavirus.
“Poorjary, 83, is under treatment at a private hospital in Mangaluru after he tested positive for Covid on Sunday,” party leader Ravi Gowda told IANS.
Mangaluru is about 360km west of Bengaluru.
“Poojary is better and responding to treatment. Specialist doctors are attending on him in view of his advanced age,” Gowda said.
Poojary’s son J Santhosh said his father’s condition was stable and there was no cause for worry as he was asymptomatic.
According to party sources, Poojary seems to have contracted the infection from his daughter-in-law, who tested positive for the virus recently.
Poojary was former federal minister of state for finance in the Indira Gandhi government from 1982-84 and the Rajiv Gandhi government from 1984-87.
