Lucknow: KGMU tally 233 as 17 more test Covid positive on campus

Yusra Husain | TNN | Aug 27, 2020, 08:04 IST

Photo for representative purpose only

LUCKNOW: The mass testing drive launched by KGMU has started showing results. Seventeen corona workers, including a faculty member were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus on Wednesday.
This took the tally on the campus to 233, including senior officials and the newly appointed vice-chancellor Lt Gen Bipin Puri.

TimesView

Identification and isolation of Covid-19 cases is the first step towards containing the virus. Had these cases not been detected in time by KGMU, the patients could have become ‘spreaders’. While the KGMU administration is doing its best, employees too need to be more careful as they have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. Residents also need to adhere strictly to the safety protocol to protect the city’s lifeline.

However, despite illness, the VC held online meetings of covid task force and testing team to roll out his plan. In his live online address, he exhorted employees not to be scared or panic, but take precautions and medication to protect themselves and their families.
All the 9,000-odd employees will be tested during the drive to identify and isolate positive cases to break the transmission chain. Simultaneously, strict regulations on movement patients and attendants are being implemented to check an outside source from infecting employees.
Though KGMU officers remained mum, the CMO office confirmed that sampling of over 100 employees was done in which 16 tested positive. A faculty member in emergency services who got himself tested after developing symptoms also came positive.
Despite the outbreak, health services have continued unhindered in KGMU, which has been leading the fight against Covid-19 in UP by conducting over 20 lakh tests and offering treatment to hundreds of patients, both Covid and no-Covid.