Bihar: Doctors and health workers too fall victim to Covid-19

Sheezan Nezami | TNN | Updated: Apr 28, 2020, 10:36 IST

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PATNA: With 10 government health workers, including two doctors, testing positive for coronavirus in the state so far, the health department is on its toes to fight the pandemic.
Three employees of a private hospital in Patna and four of another private hospital in Munger as well as an ambulance driver have also been tested positive for Covid-19 so far.
A 55-year-old doctor in charge of Biharsharif primary health centre in Nalanda was the first doctor to test positive for Covid-19 on April 19. The doctor had collected samples of a man who was later tested positive for the virus. “This doctor has recovered. He was discharged from the hospital on Sunday,” said Nalanda district magistrate Yogendra Singh.
Sources said 25 close contacts of the doctor, mostly his relatives, later contracted the virus. Apart from the doctor, an ambulance driver in Nalanda, who had carried Covid-19 positive people, also tested positive for the virus on April 24.
A postgraduate student of Jawahar Lal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (JLNMCH) in Bhagalpur was also tested positive for Covid-19 on April 22. JLNMCH superintendent Dr R C Mandal said, “He is 33-year-old PG student and lived on the hospital campus. After experiencing sore throat, he came for test and was later found positive for the virus. The PG student is on course to recovery.”
Apart from these doctors, seven paramedical staff of two private hospitals had tested positive. Three of them are employees of a private hospital on Bypass Road in Patna – a nurse, a staff involved in dialysis and a ward boy.
Four employees of a private hospital in Munger were also tested positive in the last week of March. “They were paramedical staff and all of them have recovered,” said Munger DM Rajesh Meena.
All these seven private hospital staff had come in contact with a Munger man, who was suffering from kidney problem and later died on March 21. His samples came positive for coronavirus after death.
State health department additional secretary Manoj Kumar said, “There is a set protocol for health workers which they have to follow. All of them have been trained in this regard. For example, those collecting samples or involved in treatment have been told about protective gear they are supposed to use.”