A 58-year-old Covid-19 positive patient, who went missing from Susheela Tiwari government hospital (STH) Haldwani on Wednesday, was found dead in the hospital’s washroom on Thursday. His body has been sent for post mortem, said police.

“A 58-year-old resident of Ramnagar had been admitted to the hospital on August 1 after he tested Covid-19 positive. He went missing from the hospital on Wednesday. The hospital staff informed the police about the incident. Police and hospital staff were involved in a search operation to locate him,” said Kashmir Singh, senior sub-inspector of Haldwani police station.

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He added that the actual cause of death will be known after the post-mortem report is received.

There have been several instances of Covid-19 patients jumping quarantine or escaping from hospitals when undergoing treatment. However, this case doesn’t appear to involve any attempt to escape the hospital facility.

Uttarakhand has registered close to 8.5 thousand Covid-19 cases so far including about 5.3 thousand who have been discharged after treatment. This means the state has around 3 thousand active cases of the disease.