Hours after UP minister met patients in Meerut hospital, three test positive for virus

The Ghaziabad health department is concerned after three patients in Meerut who met Uttar Pradesh minister for finance and medical education Suresh Khanna on Monday

The Ghaziabad health department is concerned after three patients in Meerut who met Uttar Pradesh minister for finance and medical education Suresh Khanna on Monday tested positive for the highly contagious coronavirus disease the next day.

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The minister had also met Ghaziabad officials on Monday and inspected a tertiary care facility in the district on Tuesday where he spoke to several patients, district and health officials, and doctors.

Doctors from both Covid-19 tertiary care hospitals -- Meerut Medical College and Santosh Medical College, Ghaziabad -- say they had taken utmost precautions, including social distancing, during the minister’s visit. They, however, advised all those who were at the hospital at the time to quarantine themselves.

The time between exposure to the virus and developing symptoms is usually five to six days but can range between one to 14 days as well. During this time, the infected person could infect others as well.

“At the Meerut Medical College, The minister met people admitted in a holding area, which is a ward created for those who may have the virus and were awaiting test results. As per our knowledge, the minister was there for a couple of minutes. He later went to Ghaziabad. When the daily test reports arrived on Tuesday night, two persons from the same ward tested positive, while a third from a nearby ward also tested positive,” said Dr. Raj Kumar, the chief medical officer (CMO) of Meerut.

He said that there were others along with the minister, including those from the media in the ward that had at least six people at the time.

“There is little possibility of infection as we had asked all those who visited the ward to take precautions. They were asked to take precautions for 5-6 days in case they show any symptoms. They have been asked to stay in home quarantine. Officials from Lucknow also contacted the district authorities and have taken note about the minister’s visit,” Kumar said.

The next day, Khanna headed to the Ghaziabad hospital near Old Bus Stand. He was accompanied by Ghaziabad district magistrate, the chief medical officer along with other officers and staff members of the hospital.

“The minister stayed for about two hours at the hospital but every precaution was taken. After the issue at Meerut came to light on Wednesday, we are also cautious and keeping a tab on patients’ health. We have told those who were present at the hospital to report to us in case they show any symptom,” said Dr. NK Gupta, CMO of Ghaziabad.

After this, Khanna left for Lucknow.

PPE kits found dumped at Dasna

On Wednesday, the UP pollution control board (UPPCB) issued show cause to the officials of the Dasna Nagar Panchayat after personal protection equipment (PPE) were found dumped at an open dumping ground.

“The teams of administration along with those from pollution board and the health department went for inspection. Normally, PPE kits come under the category of bio-medical waste and an outsourcing agency is already collecting from government and private establishments. So the reason of PPE kits lying dumped in Dasna is being inquired,” said Dr NK Gupta, chief medical officer.

Following the inspection, the officials of the UPPCB said that they have decided to issue show cause to the executive officer of Dasna Nagar Panchayat.

“During inspection we found two PPE kits which were disposed off at the dumping ground. Our teams went there for inspection. In the meantime we are issuing show cause,” said Utsav Sharma, regional officer of UPPCB.

Dasna authorities said that the two PPE kits were found disposed near Usman Colony in Dasna and the area has no habitation.

“The dumpinig ground is in isolated area. During inspection, I myself went to the location. There were two PPE kits but these were found to be unused ones. We suspect that these could be sampling kits thrown here by some unidentified persons. All biomedical waste and even those from the facility quarantine centres in Dasna is being collected by an agency and safely disposed of.The officials from the quarantine centres also inspected the site,” said Manoj Kumar Mishra, executive officer of Dasna Nagar Panchayat. “We will be replying to the show cause issued by the UPPCB. In the meantime we have disposed off the PPE kits, found in Dasna, as per norms.”