Four resident doctors and two nurses at Sion hospital, a ward boy at a TB hospital in Sewri, and a nurse at Apollo Hospital in Belapur became the latest frontline COVID-19 patients on Thursday. Previously, a nurse working at Sion hospital tested positive, taking the tally to seven.
Authorities at the civic-run Sion hospital said the staffers who have tested positive are stable. However, resident doctors at the hospital alleged that the number of positive staff members is much higher. A resident doctor said, “A total of seven resident doctors, 12 student nurses and two Class IV employees are positive.” He said the first resident doctor who tested positive was posted in a fever clinic at the hospital. He said, “At that time, the hospital did not give personal protective equipment to the doctors. The protective gear came only last week.”
The State has received one lakh N95 masks and 30,000 personal protection equipment kits from the Centre till now, far lower than its needs, according to Health Minister Rajesh Tope.
A few doctors at Sion hospital tested positive after operating on a patient who was brought into the emergency department with severe pancreatitis. The patient, a resident of Dharavi, was taken for radiology scans, prepared for surgery, intubated by anaesthetists and operated by a team of doctors. It was only after the surgery that he showed symptoms of COVID-19. His swab was sent for testing and the result was positive.
Dr. Mohan Joshi, dean of the hospital, said the canteen has been shut and resident doctors have been advised to order food and eat separately. “All precautions have been taken,” he said.
The 36-year-old ward boy and resident of Karave village, who tested positive at the hospital in Sewri where he was working, and has been admitted to KEM Hospital. The 22-year-old nurse at Apollo Hospital was attached to a respiratory unit and staying in a women’s hostel near the hospital.
NMMC to trace contacts
The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) will now be contact tracing her colleagues and testing her hostelmates. NMMC Commissioner Annasaheb Misal said, “Two positive patients were treated in Apollo and that could have lead to the spread. The area has been declared a containment zone and we will take a call on sealing the hospital.”
Mr. Misal said Apollo would be asked to submit reasons for not following the government’s protocol not to treat COVID-19 patients and shifting them to an NMMC-run hospital.
Meanwhile, a day after a COVID-19 patient committed suicide at Nair hospital, the administration installed a TV in the ward dedicated to such patients, giving them access to all channels as well as inspirational programmes.
