A 72-year-old woman from Siwan suspected to be infected with coronavirus left the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) Saturday evening quietly after doctors prescribed her test for the virus, officials said.
Raisa Begum, 72, a resident of Sultanpur village in Siwan, who was admitted to the hospital suffering from kidney-related ailment, gave authorities the slip even before they could collect her sample for test.
Siwan accounts for 29 of the 64 coronavirus cases reported so far in Bihar.
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“She was in the process of being shifted from the Tata Ward (exclusively for women) to the quarantine section for coronavirus suspects, when she left the hospital against medical advice,” said PMCH principal Dr Vidyapati Choudhary.
“We could not take her sample for Covid-19 test,” he added. Nose and oral swab are taken for test through real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT PCR) methodology, which is the confirmatory test for coronavirus.
“Presuming that she will test positive and will have to stay in hospital isolation for a minimum of 14 days, the woman left the hospital against medical advice,” said another doctor requesting anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}“Presuming that she will test positive and will have to stay in hospital isolation for a minimum of 14 days, the woman left the hospital against medical advice,” said another doctor requesting anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}The patient was admitted to the PMCH on April 9. The hospital administration had lodged a police complaint, said Dr Choudhary.
“We received a complaint from the hospital administration that a 72-year-old woman left the hospital against medical advice last night. We have registered a case and are investigating it,” said Amit Kumar, in-charge of the PMCH police outpost on the hospital campus.
Sources said the woman had switched off her phone, which her relatives had mentioned at the time of admission at the hospital.
When this reporter asked the principal if it was a lapse of the hospital administration in shifting a coronavirus suspect, Dr Choudhary parried the question, saying, “Please talk to the superintendent for further details in the case.”
Repeated efforts to contact PMCH medical superintendent Dr Bimal Karak proved futile, as he did not respond to phone calls or text message.