Karnataka Health Minister B Sriramulu said: "The 76 year old man from Kalburgi who passed away and was a suspected COVID-19 patient has been confirmed for COVID-19. The necessary contact tracing,  isolation & other measures as per protocol are being carried out."

The victim had returned from Saudi Arabia on Feb 29.

On his arrival, he was screened at the Hyderabad airport but he had shown no symptoms at that time.

On Mar 5, he went to a private hospital in Kalburgi and was admitted the following day. At that time he had complained of asthma and hypertension.

He later tested positive with COVID-19.

Three days later, he was shifted to a hospital in Hyderabad.

However, his family checked him out of the hospital the same day and while returning home, he died at around 10.30 pm.

Meanwhile, Dr. Srinivas, Director, Public Health, Telangana, said: "We have identified the hospital, where the 76-year-old person from Karnataka's Kalaburagi visited and came in contact with people including doctors earlier. Contact tracking process is currently underway by state health authorities."

At present more than 70 people in India are infected with COVID-19.

In the wake of the sudden spike in the number of cases related to the novel Coronavirus, the Indian government on Wednesday issued a new travel advisory in which it suspended all visas to India till April 15.