44 health care staff at Babu Jagjivan Ram hospital test Covid-positive

Across the city, 132 health care workers have contracted Covid-19. However, there have been no reports of any deaths amongst the 132 so far.

The 100-bed Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital in Jahangirpuri has now become a Covid-19 hot spot, with at least 30 health care workers testing positive on Saturday for the disease in the Delhi government-run hospital, highlighting the dangers front line workers are exposed to, in the fight against the contagious coronavirus disease. In total, 44 health care workers from the Jahangirpuri hospital have tested positive.

The hospital is yet to decide how to prevent further infections. So far, a flu clinic had been set up to screen patient with flu-like symptoms who had international travel history or history of contact with positive cases. (Sanchit Khanna/HT photo . Representative image)

The national Capital has so far reported 2,625 of Covid-19, 54 of whom have died, while 869 have recovered.

Of the 111 new cases, 24 were among samples that were collected by health care workers from the 95 containment zones in the city. So far 257 people from these areas have tested positive.

Across the city, 132 health care workers have contracted Covid-19. However, there have been no reports of any deaths amongst the 132 so far.

Initially, the infections were detected in some staff members working in the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment, Short-Course) centre of the hospital, which TB patients visit to get their medicines. The centre has been closed and sanitised earlier this week. “However, the cases that turned positive on Friday night were from across the hospital – including security staff and healthcare workers from different departments,” said a doctor from the hospital, on condition of anonymity.

As staff members quarantine, a doctor from the hospital said, “We have asked the government for staff from other hospitals to run the services.”

The hospital is situated in the middle of a hot spot, with six of the seven containment zones in north district located in Jahangirpuri. The authorities are yet to trace the source of any of the infections.

“Many of the people working at the hospital live near areas from where cases are being reported. Patients from Jahangirpuri also visit the hospital. Now, with the government saying that many are asymptomatic, we do not know where the infection actually came from,” a doctor said.

One of the junior residents and the chief medical officer of Babu Jagjivan Ram hospital had reported Covid-like symptoms a week ago, but the hospital did not get them tested, after which they got themselves checked. When their reports returned positive, the other doctors from the hospital demanded they be tested, and had to resort to a strike for a few hours on Monday, after which around 200 samples were collected.

The hospital is yet to decide how to prevent further infections. So far, a flu clinic had been set up to screen patient with flu-like symptoms who had international travel history or history of contact with positive cases.

The hospital receives around 2,000 people in its outpatient clinics a day.

This comes after several health care workers from Lady Hardinge Medical College’s paediatric intensive care unit (ICU) started testing positive for the contagious disease last week. So far, at least 13 health care workers have tested positive from the ward. Another doctor from the ward meant to admit children with Severe Acute Respiratory Infections (Sari) has also tested positive. Two children from the ward — a 45-day-old and a 10-month-old — also tested positive for Covid-19.

The 45-day-old succumbed to the infection last Saturday, making him the youngest person in the country to die of Covid-19.

A similar series of infection was detected in health care workers at the Delhi State Cancer Institute towards the end of March, with a 35-year-old resident doctor from the preventive oncology department testing positive first. Twenty-six health care workers have tested positive for the infection so far in the hospital. Four patients, one of their family members, and the child of a nurse from the hospital also tested positive for infection. The hospital had to be shut for over two weeks to ensure that the infection is not passed on to immunocompromised cancer patients.

The cancer hospital has started its out-patient clinic and will start running the chemotherapy department soon.

Of the total Covid-19 cases in Delhi, almost 66% of those infected are below the age of 50, according to the Delhi government’s daily health bulletin. Less than 18% cases are recorded among those above the age of 60. However, almost 54% deaths are in those 60 years or older.