Coronavirus scare: Doctor who isolated self resumes work a day later

GHAZIABAD: The doctor who had quarantined himself after coming in contact with paramedics who took a suspected Covid-19 patient to the hospital and two other doctors who had sought permission to do the same were told to resume work on Saturday. The chief medical officer has initiated an inquiry into their conduct.
“I have sought a report from the chief medical superintendents of the District Combined Hospital and MMG District Hospital on the doctor who quarantined himself … The conduct of the doctor was unbecoming and created unnecessary panic. Once the reports come in, action could be initiated against him and the two other doctors,” said chief medical officer NK Gupta.
On Friday, one doctor from District Combined Hospital had isolated himself after he found out a ward boy in his hospital had been inside an ambulance in which a suspected coronavirus patient — a 57-year-old businessman who had just returned from Tehran — was carried. Two other doctors from the hospital which sent the ambulance, MMG District Hospital, had then written to the chief medical officer asking for permission to isolate themselves. The doctors alleged no safety protocol had been followed while transporting the patient and the driver and emergency medical technician had not been told they were transporting a suspected coronavirus patient.
The chief medical officer, who had on Thursday said the paramedics had only worn N-95 marks because other equipment was “not needed”, said on Friday that the paramedics had “protective gear on”.
The chief medical superintendent of MMG District Hospital, Ravinder Rana, confirmed he has been asked for a report. “The doctors resumed duty on Saturday after their apprehensions were addressed in a counselling session,” he said.
The doctor who had quarantined himself, however, stood his ground about the concerns he had raised on Friday. “I had decided to keep myself in self-quarantine after I realised I have come in contact with the paramedic team that had transported the Covid-19-positive patient without necessary precautions. I could not possibly have allowed myself to mingle with people after that. My decision to isolate myself came after I did not get the appropriate response from higher-ups in the hospital when I told them about my apprehensions,” the doctor told TOI.