The coal capital was in a state of shock on Sunday after the deaths of three Covid patients, all sons of an 89-year-old widow who had died last week after contracting the coronavirus.

In another piece of worrying news, the virus seems to have reached BCCL headquarters, Koylabhavan. A general manager-level officer tested positive for Covid on Saturday night, in addition to two more persons, one an ophthalmologist of Central Hospital-Dhanbad and the other a local resident.

The three elderly men died in quick succession. On Saturday, one of them _ he was 69 years old _ died at the dedicated Covid Hospital of Dhanbad at Jagjivan Nagar. Early on Sunday, his 65-year-old brother, undergoing treatment for chest pain at Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Dhanbad, also died. Hours later his test reports came in to show that he was Covid positive.

The third brother _ he was 60 years old _ died at Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences in Ranchi, also on Sunday.

Local residents who knew the widow said she was from a family of traders in Katras. She had five sons in all. She had moved to Delhi with two of her sons years ago, but returned to Katras recently for family wedding scheduled on June 27.

She had to be admitted to Nilam Hospital of Chas on June 26 after becoming unwell. She died in the course of treatment on July 4.

Of her two surviving sons, one has been admitted to a hospital in Dhanbad for a pre-existing ailment.

Dhanbad SDO Raj Maheshwaram said, "Four members of the family died one after the other after Covid infection. But all of them were suffering from comorbidities.”

As many as 21 people were released on Sunday from the Covid Hospital after they tested negative on Saturday night. In all, 23 patients were tested on Saturday of which 21 were found negative.