CMC starts contact tracing after doc tests positive
Cuttack: Health officials of Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) have started contact tracing a day after a city-based paediatrician tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday. “He is the first doctor in the state who has been infected by the virus,” CMC commissioner Ananya Das said.
CMC officials said as per initial contact tracing, the doctor has been to Kendrapada to a relative’s place and returned to Cuttack on May 11. “From May 11 to 20, he attended to patients at City Hospital and went to his clinic,” Das said.
As many as 66 people have been traced so far who had come in contact with the doctor who has been admitted to Ashwini Hospital in Cuttack. His family members, including his wife, have been put under home quarantine. The doctor’s clinic and the paediatric OPD at the hospital have also been sealed.
Ever since he showed Covid symptoms, he kept himself in home isolation. On May 21, CMC health officials collecetd his swab samples which came out positive on Tuesday, the commissioner added.
“We have taken all measures to sanitise the CDA area (the doctor’s residence) and nearby localities to contain the spread of the virus. The paediatric OPD at the hospital and his clinic have been sealed. The doctor’s residence has been sanitised and neighbours have been told about the family members living in home isolation. A team has been formed to monitor the family members who have to stay in home quarantine for 14 days, starting Tuesday,” Das said.
Till Wednesday, swab samples of 25 contacts have been have collected, including doctors, nurses and pharmacists at the hospital along with their family members. “The samples have been sent for testing. We expect the reports to come in the next two days,” she said, adding that further action will be taken on basis of the reports.
“As there is no local transmission in the case so far, there is no need to declare the area as a containment zone right now,” Das stated.
A total of 86 people tested positive in Cuttack so far, including 10 in CMC areas.
EoM