Medico among four test positive for Covid-19

Mehak Jain | TNN | Updated: May 4, 2020, 16:50 IST

LUDHIANA: Four new Covid-19 positive cases were reported in the city on Sunday, taking the count of the district to 126. One of the positive cases includes a medico, while other three are Nanded devotees, as per the government’s medical bulletin.
Of over 300 samples sent for testing to various labs on Saturday, 40 that went to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital turned out to be negative, said civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Bagga. The 40 samples were of pilgrims from Hazur Sahib, Nanded, he added.
On Sunday, 254 samples were sent to virology laboratory of DMCH, PGI, Chandigarh, and Rajindra Hospital, Patiala. Patiala staff said they had huge workload, so no sample was tested on Sunday. On Monday morning, 392 samples will be tested and result will be declared by evening.
Deputy commissioner Pradeep Kumar said, “More than 300 samples were sent for testing on Saturday. These included those of migrant labourers from Rajasthan, devotees from Hazur Sahib, patients from the civil hospital flu corner and travellers. Of them, we have received reports of 40 from DMCH and they were negative. Many reports are pending. As per government instructions, all those who have tested negative will be kept at quarantine camps for 14 days.”
Dr Bagga said a total of 3,078 samples have been sent for testing from the district to date, of which 126 cases (including 19 from other districts) were found positive, seven patients were discharged after treatment and seven deaths were reported.
The medico who tested positive is a 26-year-old woman, who is now admitted to Patiala civil hospital’s isolation centre.
The junior doctor serving as a house surgeon had been posted at flu corner, isolation ward and integrated disease surveillance programme (IDSP) laboratory of civil hospital for the past some months. As a precautionary measure, she had given her throat swab, which was sent to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, on May 1 — the day she quit civil hospital after taking admission to a Patiala hospital to pursue MD physiology. “The samples of her family, including her parents and brother, will be tested in their hometown, Patiala. The source of infection is yet to be ascertained. Her contacts are being screened and advised home quarantine,” said the deputy commissioner.
The doctor told the TOI, “I was posted at Ludhiana civil hospital isolation ward till April 22 and its flu corner after that. From the past three days, I was on morning and evening shift there. On April 27, I had attended a meeting with microbiologists at Rajindra Hospital, Patiala.”
“I resigned on May 1 after I got selected for MD physiology. I had to report for online counselling on May 2. I am not sure from where I caught the infection as I took all the precautionary measures. It is a contagious disease and people should stay indoors. Even as I performed my job religiously, I now fear social stigma,” she added.
Two months ago, she stayed at a paying guest accommodation. “After the pandemic broke out, the administration provided me a room in a hotel. But due to transport problems, I preferred staying at mother and child wing of the civil hospital,” she said.
Underlining the issue of quality protective gear for healthcare staff, she said, “PPE kits and N95 masks that meet the required standards should be provided to doctors at flu corner. The healthcare staff are facing shortage of gears. As a result, we wear green gowns rather than PPE kits.”
Another doctor said, “Doctors keep touching their face as they sweat. Junior doctors are putting up in hospital itself as no separate facility has been provided to them.”
Senior medical officer Dr Geeta Kataria said the Covid-19-positve doctor had over 30 contacts in the hospital.