31 AIIMS staff in quarantine
Bhubaneswar: A day after 11 patients of the pulmonary medicine ward in AIIMS Bhubaneswar tested positive for Covid-19, the hospital has quarantined 31 medical staff, which includes mostly nurses.
The hospital has shifted the infected persons to the isolation ward for treatment. It has also started massive sanitization exercise in the pulmonary medicine ward and the respiratory ICU.
Gitanjali Batmanabane, director of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, said the respective ward and ICU are being sanitized by the staff. “We have a standard hospital infection control practice and we are doing that. Our community medicine department has started the work of tracing the contacts. Those who came in contact with the infected patients will be put in quarantine,” she added.
Sources said a TB patient, who was admitted to the pulmonary ward on June 29, died two days ago because of health complications. After his death, the hospital conducted a Covid test on him. When the deceased tested positive, the hospital conducted tests on other patients and detected 11 new cases. The TB patient was discharged from the hospital on June 22. He was brought to the hospital on June 29 when doctors shifted him to the respiratory ICU after treating in ward. Doctors believe that the deceased might have been the carrier of the virus. The pulmonary ward and respiratory ICU have been sealed. Sanitization work is under way. After three days, the ward and the ICU will be opened for use.
Sachidananda Mohanty, medical superintendent of AIIMS Bhubaneswar, said they have traced 31 medical staff who are in the high-risk category. They will be in quarantine. “We have not found any doctor in the high- risk category yet. All 31 persons are mostly nursing staff,” he added.
Seven doctors of the premier healthcare institution had tested positive for Covid-19 last month. They were senior and junior residents.