Indian hockey legend MK Kaushik dies of COVID-19 complications
Indian hockey legend MK Kaushik passed away on Saturday due to the complications caused by coronavirus. Kaushik was a former member of the Indian men's hockey team and the ex-coach of the Indian women's hockey team. He had been battling COVID-19 since a few days and lost his battle. Earlier today, former India hockey player Ravinder Pal Singh died of COVID-19 complications as well.
Kaushik had tested positive for COVID-19 last month and despite symptoms, his RT-PCR and rapid antigen tests returned negative on April 17. A week later, however, he was diagnosed with pneumonia due to the virus following a CT scan. He was hospitalized post that and on Friday night his oxygen level dropped drastically and that caused his demise.
MK Kaushik was part of the Indian team that won the gold medal at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow. In 1998, he was conferred with the Arjuna Award. For his coaching contribution to Indian hockey he also received the Dronacharya Award in 2002. Kaushik had also written a book named 'The Golden Boot'.
Meanwhile, Ravinder, who was a member of the 1980 Moscow Olympics-winning side, died on Saturday morning in Lucknow after battling COVID-19 for nearly two weeks. Ravinder was admitted at the Vivekananda Hospital on April 24 after contracting COVID-19. According to PTI, Singh had recovered from the virus and was shifted to non-COVID ward on Thursday after testing negative. However, his condition suddenly deteriorated.
India reported 4.01 lakh coronavirus infections in the last 24 hours, taking the country's overall caseload past 2.18 crore 4,187 people died in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 2.38 lakh. India's active caseload now stands at over 37.23 lakh. As many as 24 states have reported a test positivity rate of over 15% over the last week, the government said.
