New Delhi: Two outstation kidney disease patients, who had come to the national capital for treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and were housed at a Delhi government-run shelter near the hospital, were found to be Covid-19 positive on Monday, district officials said.
According to B M Mishra, district magistrate (South), the two patients have been admitted at the Lok Nayak Hospital and their wives have been sent to an institutional quarantine facility. Besides, the health department has been asked to shift 40 other patients at the shelter, who are high-risk contacts, to be put under hospital care.
The Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) shelter no.148 has around 98 occupants, of which 40 are patients who will be put under in-situ quarantine.
“The two who tested positive are kidney patients and used to go for dialysis. We have informed the health department to shift other 40 patients with co-morbidities, who are at a greater risk of contracting infection to be shifted to hospitals for immediate care,” said Mishra.
One of the shelter caretakers, who did not wish to be named, said that the two patients belonged to Gwalior (MP) and Jhansi (UP), respectively. The occupants are at risk because all of them share the common toilet facility. “The two used to go for dialysis at a private facility, which had asked them to get their Covid tests done. Many patients from the shelter had already left for their native places over the past weeks, otherwise it would have been a bigger risk,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}One of the shelter caretakers, who did not wish to be named, said that the two patients belonged to Gwalior (MP) and Jhansi (UP), respectively. The occupants are at risk because all of them share the common toilet facility. “The two used to go for dialysis at a private facility, which had asked them to get their Covid tests done. Many patients from the shelter had already left for their native places over the past weeks, otherwise it would have been a bigger risk,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Sunil Kumar Aledia, a social activist, who works for the homeless, said that in such cases the district authorities must conduct Covid tests for the caretakers as well as all the occupants, as they share common facilities and run a high risk of contracting the virus.