Five coronavirus patients, who were administered plasma therapy at Gandhi Hospital, were recovering, its superintendent Raja Rao told the Telangana High Court on Thursday.
Explaining precise details of every aspect related to COVID treatment in the hospital, Mr. Rao told the High Court, during a video-conference hearing, that 11 patients were on ventilator support while 168 in ICU.
He informed the HC Bench of Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice B. Vijaysen Reddy that 12 doctors and six healthcare workers of Gandhi Hospital contracted the infection so far.
He said that none of the family members of the doctors and health workers of the hospital contracted the virus. “The hospital doctors and staff have been battling the virus to the best of its capacity,” the superintendent said. Mr. Raja Rao also said that with PPE kits and N-95 masks, there was no need to conduct tests on doctors and para-medic staff everyday. It was found that doctors and staff of Gandhi Hospital, who contracted the virus, got it from outside and not from the contacts in hospital, the superintendent said. Fortunately, there was no casualty among the infected doctors and para-medic staff, he said.
Counsel for one of the PIL petitioners, Sriranga Pujitha, told the Bench that tests conducted in Telangana were among the lowest vis-a-vis other states. Referring to the government’s claims that embarked upon conducting 50,000 tests in 10 days, the lawyer said that can be achieved only if 5,000 tests were done daily.
But the government’s bulletins say only 1,251 and 1,096 tests were conducted on June 16 and 17 respectively. This was far below the ideal average of 5,000 tests a day, she said.
Public Health Director Srinivasa Rao contended that the government decided to collect samples and conduct tests only when a positive case is reported.
In the districts, there are no cases and hence very less number of tests were conducted whereas in GHMC areas maximum tests were held, he said.