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Covid-19: Mumbai hospital staff seeks quarantine as woman tests positive after death
The staffers said the woman was admitted to the hospital’s general ward on Saturday and died after serious breathing difficulty on Tuesday night.
Over 150 nursing staff, paramedics and other workers at the K B Bhabha Hospital Mumbai’s Bandra (West) area staged a protest on Wednesday demanding that the health department quarantines them after a woman died at the facility tested positive for Covid-19.
The staffers at the hospital run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) demanded immediate quarantine, suspecting possible exposure to coronavirus.
The 45-year-old woman who died Tuesday night tested positive for coronavirus.
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They said the woman was admitted to the hospital’s general ward on Saturday and died after serious breathing difficulty on Tuesday night.
“We all are at serious risk because we were handling a Covid -19 patient for the last four days. We were totally unaware about her Covid-19 history and hence we are demanding to be quarantined for our own safety,” said Bharat Katare, one of the medical staff who was among the protesters.
Another staffer Vaibhav Kharat said, “Not only us but our immediate family members should also be quarantined. Why should we put the life of our near and dear ones in danger? Already two private hospitals in the city have been sealed after possible exposure of medical staff members, so the civic body should at least quarantine us.”
Health staffers also demanded that such suspected patients should be treated separately considering possible exposure of Covid-19 to all medical staffers.
They also complained that they are working without adequate precautions. According to staffers, the civic body is not supplying enough personal protective equipment (PPE) and many of the senior staffers take available PPEs. So it is difficult to handle Covid-19 patients without proper care, they say.
The BMC has refuted the allegations of shortage and said it is supplying enough PPE to each and every hospital.
“We are taking care of enough supply of PPE to all hospitals. As per my information there is no issue related to supply of PPE. And as per the procedure, we will quarantine each and every high and low risk contracts of Covid-19 patient for the possible exposure to avoid further spread of disease.’’ said Dr Daksha Shah, deputy director, health department of the BMC.
Maharashtra recorded 60 new cases of coronavirus on Wednesday morning, taking the tally to 1078. Of the new cases, 44 were from Mumbai.
