India loses its first frontline doctor

Indore: In a disturbing development, a doctor succumbed to the deadly coronavirus on Thursday in Indore, days after contracting the disease. With the physician's death, the country reported its first fatality among the frontline health workers.Dr Shatrughan Panjwani, who was a family physician and lived in Rupram Nagar of Indore, had tested positive a few days ago, and passed away on Thursday, said Chief Medical and Health Officer Dr Pravin Jadiya.

Initially, the deceased doctor was admitted to Gokuldas Hospital, but was later shifted to CHL Apollo Hospital in Indore. Then, he was moved to the Aurobindo Hospital where he breathed his last at 4am on Thursday morning.With his demise, the number of deaths has risen to 22 in Indore, which reported 213 positive cases so far.

Meanwhile, Dr NL Heda, who runs a clinic at Itarsi in Hoshangabad, too, has tested positive for COVID-19 and six of his clinic staff have been kept in isolation, while 200 of his contacts have been shifted to quarantine.In Bhopal, large number of physicians working at the state health directorate has also tested positive for coronavirus.

The total number of cases in Madhya Pradesh to 381 with Indore that has been categorised as a COVID-19 hotspot accounting for over half of these cases.