OPD at Kasturba a hive of activity

Gripped with coronavirus fear, people turn up in large numbers; two with travel history advised isolation

March 12, 2020 01:54 am | Updated 01:56 am IST - Mumbai

Driven by anxiety:  A man exiting Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. He had landed in the city from Dubai and passed the body temperature test at Mumbai airport. He still chose to have himself double-checked at the hospital but was turned away saying if he had no fever he was not positive for the coronavirus.

Driven by anxiety: A man exiting Kasturba Hospital in Mumbai on Wednesday. He had landed in the city from Dubai and passed the body temperature test at Mumbai airport. He still chose to have himself double-checked at the hospital but was turned away saying if he had no fever he was not positive for the coronavirus.

A special outpatient department (OPD) for novel coronavirus (COVID-19) set up at ward no 9 of Kasturba Hospital has been witnessing a lot of activity since Wednesday morning. Those with a travel history and others without any are seeking doctors’ help. Among those who were advised isolation after reporting to the OPD were a 40-year-old woman and a six-year-old girl with travel history to Sharjah and Dubai.

The woman, who returned to Mumbai on March 1, had gone to a local doctor in Mira Road, who prescribed her medication but also referred her to the primary health centre (PHC). Soon as the PHC got to know about the case, two nurses visited the suspected patient and advised her for a visit to Kasturba Hospital. “We brought the woman to Kasturba in our ambulance,” said one of the nurses who travelled along with the woman. She had been isolated and her samples were collected for tests.

Parents of the six-year-old girl who returned from Dubai on March 8 said that she had started coughing after coming back. “However, she had played in the swimming pool, and she catches cold easily. But just as a precautionary measure, we decided to come to the OPD,” the father said. Doctors said the child would be isolated but the mother would be allowed to be with her.

Among the many people who queued up at the OPD were a few who sought medical certificates to submit at the workplace, but were turned away. Many also had no travel history but feared the exposure to the virus.

Additional municipal commissioner Suresh Kakani said many people have started walking in to the OPD and they are now planning to keep it operational round the clock. On Wednesday, 10 people were placed under isolation in Mumbai due to the suspected exposure.

CR, WR gear up

The Central Railway (CR) and the Western Railway (WR) have begun their preparations to combat the outbreak of the virus in the city.

The CR has created isolation wards across all its hospitals, including the two in Mumbai — Byculla and Kalyan. Similarly, the WR has designated 75 beds in all divisions and zonal hospitals, including a dedicated ward of 30 beds for clinically suspected cases at Jagjivan Ram Hospital at Mumbai Central.

Hospital staff are being trained to deal with any suspected cases, and educational posters on dos and don’ts have been put up at prominent locations across all station premises and inside trains.

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