47 health workers taking care of Covid patient at risk in Chandigarh

Naina Mishra

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

A 65-year-old man from Nayagaon, who tested positive for Covid-19 at the PGIMER today, was tested for the virus nearly after five days of admission to the institute.

With this, the health of at least 47 health workers, both at the PGI and the GMSH, Sector 16, who dealt with the patient without any safety gear in non-Covid wards, is at risk.

The reasons can be attributed to the testing protocols of the Central government and the shortage of testing kits in the country. The patient was not tested for Covid even after he reported to the GMSH emergency on March 18 and March 25 with symptoms like cough and shortness of breath as he neither have any travel history nor did he come in contact with any Covid-19 patient.

As per the Government of India protocol, all symptomatic people with travel history abroad in the last 14 days and have come in contact with confirmed cases, healthcare workers and hospitalised patients with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) or influenza like illness (ILI) or severe pneumonia are tested for the virus.

It is due to this protocol that the patient was tested on the 13th day from the onset of symptoms (March 18).

He was admitted to the PGI with respiratory tract infection five days ago after his son consulted a private medical practitioner in Mohali, who referred him to the PGI.

At the PGI, he was initially tested for H1N1, the reports of which were found negative. The patient was later tested for Covid after he stopped responding to the treatment. By then, he had already exposed to as many as 36 medical staff, including five doctors, 22 nursing officers, five hospital attendants and four sanitation attendants. They all are now quarantined.

At the GMSH, three doctors from the medicine department, two EMOs and one radiographer, who conducted the X-ray of the patient, have been quarantined till April 19. The remaining five doctors will be quarantined only for one day as these were exposed to the virus on March 18 when the patient visited the hospital.

Before being shifted to an isolation ward of the PGI, the patient was undergoing treatment in a common ward of the institute as a suspected H1N1 patient, where three more patients were admitted. The trauma and emergency ward of the PGI was sanitised today.

His 40-year-old son, who is also admitted to an isolation ward of the PGI, said, “I am surprised why they kept on delaying the most important test for five days and instead tested my father for H1N1.”

Shortage of kits a problem: Health Secretary

Chandigarh Health Secretary Arun Gupta said, “The problem is not with the number of labs, but with the number of kits available for testing. There is no point in increasing the number of labs. Those who want to contribute to testing facility will have to approach the Government of India.”

There was an established protocol for testing. There would be no end to sampling if random people came to hospitals with flu-like symptoms, he said.

A source at the PGI said, “India has only over 1.5 lakh testing kits. If we start testing 500 samples daily, we’ll not be able to carry out testing for more than two days as we will run short of kits.”  

Was initially tested for H1N1

• He was admitted to the PGI with respiratory tract infection five days ago after his son consulted a private medical practitioner in Mohali, who referred him to the PGI.
• At the PGI, he was initially tested for H1N1, the reports of which were found negative. The patient was later tested for Covid after he stopped responding to the treatment. By then, he had already exposed to as many as 36 medical staff, including five doctors, 22 nursing officers, five hospital attendants and four sanitation attendants. They all are now quarantined.
• At the GMSH, three doctors from the medicine department, two EMOs and one radiographer, who conducted the X-ray of the patient, have been quarantined till April 19. The remaining five doctors will be quarantined only for one day as these were exposed to the virus on March 18 when the patient visited the hospital.

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