Nitish Kumar refuses to withdraw resignation

New Delhi, Jun 29: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday paid tribute to the senior doctor of city government-run LNJP Hospital who died battling COVID-19, saying the society has "lost a very valuable fighter".

The 52-year-old doctor served in the front line of the war against the pandemic at the government facility, and died of novel coronavirus infection in an ICU of a private hospital on Sunday.

"Dr Aseem Gupta, a senior doctor of LNJP Hospital succumbed to Covid yday. He was known for going out of his way to serve his patients. We have lost a very valuable fighter. Delhi salutes his spirit and sacrifice...," Kejriwal tweeted.

The chief minister also said in his tweet that he has spoken to Dr Gupta''s wife and "offered my condolences and support".

LNJP Hospital is a dedicated COVID-19 facility under the Delhi government. It recently completed 100 days of being declared a coronavirus facility.

"LNJP Hospital has displayed great fortitude in the face of acute challenges. It''s recovery rate is going up, death rate is reducing, ICU capacity is being ramped up - the hospital is saving so many lives," the chief minister said.

A condolence meeting to pay respect to Dr Gupta has been scheduled at 1 pm in the office of the Medical Director of the hospital, a senior official said.

The doctor, a consultant anaesthesiologist died at the Max hospital, Saket in south Delhi, a private dedicated COVID-19 facility.

"He was a front line anaesthesia specialist who contracted COVID-19 infection while on duty. He tested positive on June 6, when he had mild symptoms and was shifted to a quarantine facility. His symptoms aggravated on June 7 and he was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit of the LNJP Hospital," the LNJP Hospital said in a statement on Sunday.

He was shifted to Max Hospital, Saket on June 8 on his request, it said.

The doctor was battling the disease for the last two weeks at Max Hospital, where he succumbed to the illness on Sunday, the statement said.

He was Specialist, Grade I, in the Department of Anaesthesia at the LNJP Hospital, the statement said.

Several hundreds of healthcare workers have been infected with COVID-19 till date in Delhi.

Kolkata, Jul 20: As many as 13 migrant workers who came to their native village in West Bengal's Bankura district were denied entry at the quarantine centre by the locals.

As a result, the workers had to set up a tent accommodation at a nearby Beraban forest area and lived together in a single tent there, without adequate food, drinking water and basic facilities.

The migrant labourers came from Rajasthan after four months of COVID-19 lockdown which was imposed nationwide on March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus.

When they arrived at Jagadalla village in the Bankura district and tried to put up at a village school building for two weeks self-quarantine, angry villagers vehemently protested against their entry fearing Covid infections in their village.

Sources said that local police and panchayat members also failed to make the villagers understand the fact that if the labourers strictly stayed in self-quarantine there would be no chance of any further infection.

"The school is located quite within our neighbourhood. If they stay there and tested positive, they might spread Covid infections in the village. We cannot allow them to stay in the school building," said Aniket Goswami, a villager.

Lucknow, May 9: The first patient to receive plasma therapy as an experimental treatment for coronavirus infection in Uttar Pradesh died following a heart attack on Saturday.

The patient, a 58-year-old doctor, was admitted at the King George’s Medical University (KGMU) here.

The doctor, who was on ventilator since the last 14 days, died on Saturday evening following a heart attack, KGMU Vice-Chancellor M L B Bhatt said.

Since he had high blood pressure and diabetes, he was under the continuous observation of doctors in the isolation ward, Bhatt said.

“The patient was in a stable condition. His lungs had improved, but he later developed urinary tract infection. Two reports of his samples came out as negative (for COVID-19) today,” the vice-chancellor said.

“He, however, suffered a heart attack around 5 pm. Despite all efforts, he could not be saved,” he said.

The doctor from Orai in Uttar Pradesh was administered plasma therapy at the state-run KGMU on April 26. He was administered the plasma donated by a doctor from Canada who was the first COVID-19 patient admitted at the hospital and later recovered.

Tulika Chandra of Blood Transfusion Department, KGMU said, "When the patient was given plasma therapy, his condition was very bad. His lungs, however, improved. But as he was an old patient with diabetes, he was kept on the ventilator.”

Convalescent Plasma Therapy is an experimental procedure for treating COVID-19 patients. In this treatment, plasma, a blood component, from a cured patient is transfused to a critically ill coronavirus patient.

The blood of a person who has recovered from COVID-19 develops antibodies to fight the virus. This therapy uses the antibodies from the blood of a cured patient to treat another critical patient.

The Union health ministry, however, had advised against considering the therapy to be a regular treatment for coronavirus, adding it should be used for research and trial purposes till there is a piece of robust scientific evidence to support its efficacy.