Doctor among 3 test positive for COVID-19 at Max hospital
New Delhi, Apr 13 () A doctor, a nurse and a non-medical staff at Max hospital, Saket in South Delhi have tested positive for COVID-19, hospital authorities said on Monday.
Meanwhile, authorities at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital said COVID-19 tests have been conducted on all 115 healthcare workers who were quarantined two weeks ago and three have tested positive.
One endoscopy technician and two nurses have tested positive. The rest 112 have tested negative for COVID-19 and they will be joining duties from day after tomorrow, they said.
Max Hospital at Saket in south Delhi in a statement said, "So far, three hospital staffers have tested positive -- a doctor, a nurse and one non-medical staff. All of them are recovering."
When asked, authorities said the doctor, who has tested positive, was working in the flu clinic.
"None of the flu patients seen by this doctor have tested positive. However, we suspect that he has mostly likely contacted the disease from outside the hospital. This is based on feedback from the doctor," a spokesperson of the hospital said.
The three staff members have tested positive over the last 3-4 days. The tests were done at Max Labs, when they showed minor symptoms of the disease. All three are stable and have a mild disease, the spokesperson said.
"These three affected persons have been quarantined in an isolated part of the hospital, which has been created specifically for this purpose," she said.
The district surveillance officer has been informed about the three cases and contact tracing and testing is presently underway, Max hospital authorities said.
Recently, two patients admitted for cardiac treatment at Max hospital had tested positive for COVID-19.
"Thirty-nine healthcare workers, who were contact traced, have been quarantined with in a separate and isolated wing at Max Hospital, Saket," it said.
All 39 individuals are asymptomatic and will be tested on the 5th day of exposure, which is April 14.
"There are 154 employees deployed in shifts in the COVID ward of Max Hospital, Saket. None of these employees has had any exposure to the virus. They are working in shifts and are staying on the hospital premises to reduce any risk of infection to their families and neighbours. None of them has been quarantined," the statement said.
All these 154 staff members working in the COVID ward were wearing full PPE kits. No untoward incident has been reported. They have shown no symptoms of the disease and are following the defined protocols. Everything is being monitored. There is no reason to believe that any of them have been exposed, the hospital claimed.
The number of coronavirus cases in Delhi till Monday morning stood at 1,154 with 24 deaths. KND RT