A 75-year-old man from Kupwara district died of COVID-19 at a hospital in Bemina, Srinagar,taking the number of people succumbing to the virus in Jammu and Kashmir to159.

A resident of Chatgund area of the north Kashmir, the septuagenarian was referred from Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), the Medical Superintendent, Dr Shifa Deva told a local news agency, GNS.

 “The patient was suffering from Hypertension,COPD, pneumonia and had renal injury,” she added. “The patient was very sick.”

Earlier, a35-year-old covid-19 positive woman from Srinagar died at CD hospital, one of the exclusive facilities meant for the management of the covid-19 patients here. The woman was shifted from Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital to Chest Disease hospital on 8 July.

“The young woman was suffering from hypertension, acute bilateral pneumonia and respiratory distresssyn drome. She died at around 9 a.m. today,” Medical Superintendent of the CD hospital Dr Salim Tak told GNS.

Earlier, two elderlycovid-19 patients from Anantnag and Srinagar districts respectively died at thehospital.

While one of them,an 80-year-old man from Kokernag area of the south Kashmir district died lastnight the other, an 82-year-old man from Habba Kadal area of the central Kashmir,passed away early today.

Dr Tak told GNS that the octogenarian from Kokernag area was admitted on 4 July and had bilateral pneumonia. “He died last night,” he said. Regarding Habba Kadal resident, DrTak said that he was admitted on 7 July and died this morning, and was“hypertensive and had Community Acquired Pneumonia,” he added.

With these deaths,144 people in Kashmir and 15 in Jammu division have died so far due to thevirus.