GREATER NOIDA: Over 20 inmates from a women’s shelter for specially-abled, many of them minors, were admitted to Sharda Hospital, an L3 Covid facility, after testing positive for Covid-19.
All of them are asymptomatic and have been kept in a separate ward and experts and staff from the psychiatry department have been engaged to monitor them. Currently, the hospital has 158 Covid patients.
“A total of 24 women from Noida’s Sector 34 shelter have been sent here by the chief medical officer of Gautam Budh Nagar. While nine patients were sent on Monday evening, 15 more were sent on Tuesday. Many are minors. We have kept them in a special ward and are trying to figure out the best way to manage their condition,” said Dr Ashutrosh Niranjan, the chief medical superintendent (CMS), Sharda Hospital, Greater Noida.
Officials said the reports of the 24 patients have come in the past 24 hours.
The chief medical officer (CMO), Dr Deepak Ohri, said: “Adequate assistance will be provided to the hospital for their treatment.”
Dr Ajit Kumar, spokesperson, Sharda Hospital, said: “Most of the patients have chronic schizophrenia and two of them have a history of seizures.”
Asked about the source of infection, officials said it was not known clearly.
Dr Niranjan said: “We have requested the CMO that the attendant who looks after them at the shelter be allowed to join them at the hospital so that they have a familiar face around.”
While Dr Kunal Kumar, professor and head of department, psychiatry, Sharda Hospital, and his team were busy gathering case histories of the patients from the shelter, a 24-member team has been set up to handle the patients at the ward. The team has six junior doctors and 18 nurses.
“The health workers would be guided by Dr Kumar and his team from now on,” said Dr Niranjan.
The patients are responding well to the treatment, said Dr Kumar.