Coronavirus: Three staff of Delhi’s Max Hospital test positive

Last week, two people admitted at the hospital for cardiac problems tested positive

A view of Max Super Speciality Hospital at Shalimar Bagh in New Delhi for representational purposes only.

Three staff, including a doctor, of the Max Hospital at Saket have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last two days, a spokesperson for the hospital said on Monday.

On Thursday, two people admitted at the Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, tested positive for the virus.

The two hospitals, which are on the same road, are separated by a parcel of land.

Two of them were initially admitted to the Max Hospital, East Block, Saket, for cardiac problems and later shifted to Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital after the first facility was turned into a novel coronavirus treatment facility.

“Two patients admitted for cardiac treatment tested positive for COVID 19 a few days ago. 39 healthcare workers, who were contact traced, have been quarantined in a separate and isolated wing at Max Hospital, Saket. All 39 individuals are asymptomatic and will be tested on the fifth day of exposure, which is tomorrow 14/04/20. So far, three hospital staffers have tested positive. These include a doctor, a nurse and one non-medical staff member. All of them are recovering,” the hospital said in a statement on Monday.

According to hospital officials, the two cardiac patients are unrelated and were initially admitted at Max Hospital, East Block. Even after it was turned into such a COVID-19 facility, two of them were at the hospital and were gradually moved to Max Smart Super Speciality Hospital.

“We are still looking into how they contracted the virus. But there is no chance that they would have contracted it from COVID-19 positive patients at the East Block, as the COVID-19 patients were in isolation wards, when these two patients were admitted there,” the spokesperson had said.

“The doctor who has tested positive was working in a flu clinic on the hospital premises which acts as a screening point for patients. He was not in touch with the two cardiac patients. He could have been infected while working at the clinic or from his residential area,” the spokesperson said.

“The nurse and the general duty assistant who have tested positive most likely came into contact with the two cardiac patients,” he added.

The spokesperson said that the hospital was yet to ascertain how the two cardiac patients were infected with the virus.