Three doctors from the State-run Institute of Nephro-Urology on Victoria Hospital campus have been home quarantined since Tuesday as one of the doctors is related to the 20-year-old woman who tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday. Those under home quarantine include the institute director Keshavamurthy R.
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Dr Keshavamurthy told The Hindu on Wednesday that the doctor, said to be related to the positive patient, accompanied her for COVID-19 tests on Sunday and attended a meeting at the institute on Monday.
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“He was there with her when her samples were collected on Sunday. But he did not inform us about that before the meeting on Monday. Her reports came on Monday and after that we came to know that he had accompanied her. All those were in close contact with the doctor have been quarantined,” he said. The hospital caters to renal patients and those who are immuno compromised.
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Allying fears, the doctor said he had not entered the wards and other patient areas in the hospital. “I was busy doing paper work in my cabin for most part of the day on Monday. My close contact with two other doctors was only in the meeting and that too for a short while. Moreover, I do not have any symptoms and my samples have tested negative,” he told The Hindu.
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Meanwhile, post-graduate medical students and junior doctors, who are deployed in various teaching hospitals said they have been asked to avoid touching patients to examine them. “We have been asked by our seniors to avoid examining the patients and take their history orally. Also, doctors are avoiding all minor surgeries in cases where they can be delayed,” said a PG student from Bengaluru Medical College and Research Institute.
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Some specialists and consultants have also started teleconsultation for patients. “I have been asking patients not to come to the hospital unless it is very essential,” said a doctor from Vikram Hospital.
All private hospitals have set up COVID-19 help desks and are collecting travel history of every patient at the entrance. Dental Clinics and other small clinics have shut shop and patients are forced to buy over the counter medicine for minor problems.