Following the death of a 40-year-old woman with kidney problems, after which she was tested positive for COVID-19 in Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, doctors and nurses of the hospital claimed there was more than a day’s delay to quarantine the staff.
A doctor and a nurse also alleged multiple lapses on the hospital’s part including not providing proper isolation for the woman, once she was suspected of having the virus, which could have infected other patients and staff too.
Meanwhile, the woman’s husband, who is differently abled, told The Hindu that the Delhi government-run hospital did not do dialysis and didn’t immediately inform them that she had tested positive. The body is still with the hospital, he added.
The woman died on Saturday and was tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. It was only on Wednesday, the hospital ordered 57 doctors, nurses, and technicians, to be quarantined and samples were being taken, according to a hospital order.
“Both her kidneys were not functioning. Once she was suspected of corona, they did not do dialysis,” the woman's husband said. “Jab se uska test hua, doctor aur guard log use aise dekh rahe the, jaise koi bhoot aagaya ho emergency [ward] me,” he said.
“The hospital authorities [on Tuesday] asked me and our two children to get tested. But we were turned away from another hospital,” the husband, who is a street vendor in Jahangirpuri said.
‘Lapses’ by hospital
Though the hospital said in the order that the patient was admitted in an “isolation cubicle” in the emergency ward, a doctor and a nurse said that there was no “proper” isolation. “The cubicle is part of a 35-odd-bed emergency ward. The cubicle has about six beds and while the woman was admitted, there were at least three more patients. Also, the woman’s sister stayed in the cubicle,” the doctor told The Hindu.
“Isolation should have been proper and the family should not have been allowed to meet her. Also, the oxygen supply came from a common line and it could infect other patients,” the doctor added.
The nurse said that the doctors were not using full-body PPE kits while attending to the woman, though she was suspected of COVID-19.
Medical Director of the hospital, M.M. Kohli, and Secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department, Padmini Singla, did not respond to phone calls and messages. Though a nurses’ association had emailed Ms. Singla and hospital authorities on Tuesday, the order to quarantine the staff was issued on Wednesday afternoon.
“On Tuesday, we had sent emails to the Hospital Director, Health Secretary and Chief Minister’s office. But they quarantined the staff only on Wednesday. This is blatant negligence on the part of the authorities,” said Jagdish Kulhari, President of Federation of Delhi Govt. Nurses.
“I got to know by today [Wednesday] afternoon that my name was in the list of people to be quarantined. Doctors had met the HoD on Tuesday and said that the staff has to quarantined, but they said everyone cannot be quarantined suddenly,” another nurse told The Hindu .
A nurse said he decided to quarantine himself at his home, as the hospital had not provided any quarantine facility.
