Despite the installations of the precautionary mechanisms to tackle the spread of the Coronavirus in the country, India has been reporting with the soaring high cases in its territory and on Monday, the country has recorded its eighth fatality due to the pandemic as a 57-year-old patient who was tested positive for the virus had died in Kolkata on the evening hours of Monday and his demise has led the state of West Bengal to mark its first death caused by the virus.

The reports say that the deceased person is from Dum Dum in North Kolkata and he was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the city. He was on the ventilation support as he had multiple organ failure and he suffered a cardiac arrest and succumbed at around 3.35 pm after which the country marked its eighth fatality and his demise has come amid the states have been imposing lockdown and restrictions to the people to contain the spread. According to the reports, the body of the deceased will not be handed over to the family as per the protocol and three of his nearest family members are currently been under isolation.

A 57-year-old male patient, who was admitted to the Salt Lake unit expired at around 3:35 pm, today. He was detected #COVID19 positive after samples were sent to NICED and SSKM Hospital on March 20 and 21: AMRI Hospital, Kolkata https://t.co/2O5aUhfoQN

— ANI (@ANI) March 23, 2020

Their samples were collected and the results are yet to arrive. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that the deceased man and his family have recently arrived from Italy and two days back, he was confirmed positive for the virus. In its daily briefing, the Union Health Ministry said that the complete lockdown has been announced in 19 states and Union Territories. While addressing the reporters, Lav Agarwal, the Joint Secretary for the Union Health Ministry stated that all 19 states and UTs (Chandigarh, Delhi, Goa, J&K, Nagaland, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, West Bengal, Ladakh, Jharkhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Tripura, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh) are going under complete lockdown.

The partial lockdown has been imposed in six other states and union territories to combat the virus before it could get rampant. He further stated that some of the deceased people have pre-existing co-morbid conditions. He asserted that the pandemic can be controlled effectively if the government's decisions on curfew and shutdown are considered.

Balram Bhargava, the Director-General of ICMR said that twelve laboratory chains have been registered and they have started conducting tests for the Coronavirus and these registered labs would be having 15,000 collection centers across the country. According to the reports, the ICMR has recommended a drug to treat the high-risk patients affected by the virus and while commenting about the recommendation, Bhargava said that the malaria drug 'Hydroxychloroquine' is recommended only for healthcare workers who have been involved in treating the suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients and the drug is also recommended for the people taking care of the patients who are under home quarantine.

The state of Tamil Nadu is the 15th Indian state to go under the unprecedented lockdown and by imposing curfews and lockdowns across the country, the Indian government has been speeding up the measures to contain the spread of the virus, the micro menace which has been labeled as a global pandemic. On Sunday, the Indian government has canceled all the passenger trains and shut down the interstate borders across the country till March 31st and asked the people to maintain the social distancing and avoid mass gatherings as the governments have been leaving no stones unturned towards combating the virus.

The Indian government has earlier prohibited all the international passenger flights to the country from March 22nd for one week and on Monday, the Civil Aviation Ministry said that the operation of domestic commercial airlines will be ceased from the midnight on March 24th, 2020 and the ministry stated that this restriction won't be applicable for the cargo flights.

Also read: Corona outbreak: India crossed 400 cases while the Center grips up the lockdown!