Hindu Rao hospital to partially open today after nurse tested Covid positive

All the entry and exit points to the hospital were sealed on Saturday night after the test reports of the 30-year-old nurse, who has been suffering from high fever the last one week, came positive.

The Hindu Rao Hospital (HRH), capital’s biggest municipal corporation-run health facility, will partially resume services on Monday after being temporarily shut down following a hospital nurse testing Covid positive. The 980-bed facility which is run by the North Delhi Municipal Corporation caters to 5,000 patients daily and is one of the designated Covid screening centres in Delhi.

More doctors and nurses, who had worked closely with the affected nurse but were not present in the hospital on Saturday night, were summoned for testing. (Sanchit Khanna/HT file photo)

All the entry and exit points to the hospital were sealed on Saturday night after the test reports of the 30-year-old nurse, who has been suffering from high fever the last one week, came positive. “We will resume services of casualty and emergency wards, including the flu clinic and the three OPDs (gynecology, paediatrics and medicine) with a restricted entry of patients and attendants from tomorrow, i.e, April 27,” said the north body commissioner, Varsha Joshi.

Complete sanitisation of the hospital premises, with sodium hypochlorite spray, was carried out on Saturday, she said.

At least 250 doctors, nurses, patients, their attendants, sweepers and even canteen workers were held back for testing on Saturday, who could have come in contact of the infected nurse.

“Most of the staff workers had come for the night shift (8 pm to 8 am) and were told to stay back Sunday morning. They already had segregated duty rooms with beds to take rest and were provided food the entire day. The existing 170 patients were also taken care of,” a resident doctor, who didn’t wish to be named, said.

Also, more doctors and nurses, who had worked closely with the affected nurse but were not present in the hospital on Saturday night, were summoned for testing.

“Contact tracing of 52 staff members here, who have been in contact with the nurse, has been completed. In the case of seven contacts, the collection of samples has been done and they are currently in institutional quarantine. Rest are in home isolation and their sample collection will start tomorrow,” Joshi said.

An enquiry has been initiated by the civic body on who asked the nurse to come for work in spite of symptoms. “There appears to be definite negligence at some level and we will take action against those responsible,” a corporation official, who didn’t wish to be named, said.

Meanwhile, over 1,000 doctors, who are now apprehensive for their safety, presented a new charter of demands to the civic body.

“We definitely need more Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) here. Besides, the administration must book rooms for us to stay in nearby hotels. The accommodation provided in the New Hostel Block here for doctors attending to suspected COVID patients is not sufficient, and we don’t want to go back home and transfer any possible infection to our families,” a resident doctor, who requested anonymity, said.