The sample of a 70-year-old man who had returned from Germany via Italy a fortnight ago and died at a health centre in Punjab after severe chest pain has tested positive for the novel coronavirus, senior officials said on Thursday.

Although a statement issued by the chief minister’s office said the “state reported its first case of corona death”, the principal secretary (health) insisted the patient was “a positive case of the coronavirus who died of cardiac arrest”.

The patient had diabetes and hypertension. His sample tested positive after he died at the Banga community health centre in Nawanshahr district on Wednesday, said Jagat Ram, director of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research here.

District civil surgeon Rajinder Prasad Bhatia said the man had arrived from Europe on March 7.

The resident of Pathlawa village, Nawanshahr, came to the health centre with severe chest pain on Wednesday and collapsed immediately. He died later in the day, Bhatia said.

Anurag Aggarwal, the principal secretary (health), confirmed that the patient’s sample had tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

Asked whether he had died of the coronavirus infection, Aggarwal said: “There could be multiple reasons for his death but he suffered a cardiac arrest. There can be underlying reasons ---- he had coronavirus, diabetics also.”

He then added: “He was a positive case of the coronavirus who died of cardiac arrest.”

The Nawanshahr district administration has enforced all the containment measures at Pathlawa village to ensure the safety and screening of everyone with whom the patient had had contact, an official said.

The village has been sealed and the health authorities are putting several of the patient’s relatives and friends under isolation.