Staff discharged positive case in Ludhiana, face probe

Mehak Jain | TNN | Updated: Apr 8, 2020, 08:46 IST

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LUDHIANA: The Ludhiana senior medical officer on Tuesday ordered an inquiry against the on-duty civil hospital isolation ward staff for discharging a patient, who tested Covid-19 positive, before his report came.
Senior medical officer Dr Ravi Dutt has ordered the probe against the staff working on April 5 morning. He said, "I have questioned the duty staff as it came to my notice that a man, who was later found to be Covid-19 positive, was admitted, tested and discharged in the morning. The patient was later picked up in the evening after the report inferred that he was positive. I have sought written explanation."
A 26-year-old man from Rajgarh village in Payal block was picked up by the health department from his house on the evening of April 2 and admitted to the civil hospital isolation ward. The man claimed that the department took his throat swab on April 2 evening and didn’t serve him dinner.
He said he was told that his report would be out the next day. He was later informed that it would come on April 4.
On April 4 morning, when he asked the staff, they said he tested negative and was discharged at 11.30am. He also has his discharge slip. He told the TOI, "I requested the health department to drop me home in an ambulance, as it was difficult to get a transport in the curfew. But they refused. I then walked till Dholewal Chowk, from where my father picked me up."
On the night of April 4, the health department officials called him up, saying they were coming to hand over his report to him. "When they came, they said I had tested positive and that they had come to pick me up. I have no symptoms, like cough and fever. I am perfectly fine. I didn’t go out during the lockdown," the man added.