Patient tests positive for , Covid after surgery, private hospital staff under quarantine

After a 62-year-old woman, who had undergone a surgery for pancreatic tumour at a private hospital in Noida on April 7, tested positive for Covid-19 on April 8,

After a 62-year-old woman, who had undergone a surgery for pancreatic tumour at a private hospital in Noida on April 7, tested positive for Covid-19 on April 8, 67 medical and paramedical staff of the hospital and 27 others who came in direct and indirect contact with her have been put in quarantine on the hospital premises itself.

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Health officials said the 62-year-old woman, a resident of Muzaffarnagar, reached the Sector 128 hospital on APril 6 and her samples were sent for a Covid-19 test as well. The next day, on April 7, she underwent the surgery for the pancreatic tumour, as she needed immediate medical attention. The woman was a regular patient at the hospital since December 2019.

He reports came positive for Covid-19 on April 8 and the hospital staff was informed over the phone, but by then, her surgery had already been completed.

The woman needs post-operative care and has been kept in the isolation ward of the same hospital. The floor and wing where she has been admitted has been sealed by officials.

The doctors and the lab technicians have also been put under quarantine in the same wing but on a different floor. The other nursing staff has been put under quarantine in hostels on the hospital premises.

The woman was accompanied by her son, who tested negative for the infection and has been kept under quarantine on the hospital premises.

“The patient has been visiting us since December 2019 and it was crucial that we operate her on an emergency basis. Our 67 medical and paramedical staff have been quarantined on our hospital premises. The woman’s condition is stable. Her COVID-19 sample was collected as a protocol which we have started following for every emergency patient,” said a senior hospital official.

The woman is not counted among the Covid-19 patients in Gautam Budh Nagar as she belongs to Muzaffarnagar. “She is undergoing treatment here but she will be counted in Muzaffarnagar. All persons in quarantine at the hospital will be tested for Covid-19 if they develop symptoms. The initial reports usually come negative, so we will wait for four or five days,” said Dr Sunil Dohre, additional chief medical officer, Gautam Budh Nagar.

In another case, a 21-year-old woman from Sector 50 tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday afternoon. The woman along with her family members was already under quarantine at the Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar hostel in Gautam Buddha University. The woman’s sister is an air hostess who is suspected to have transmitted the disease. The tally of cases in the district is now 64.

Officials have taken samples of around 10 members of the woman’s family. The reports of the air hostess sister and father came negative while the reports of others are awaited. The patient has been admitted at the Sharda Hospital in Greater Noida.

The district health department has been facing trouble for the last one week following a delay in getting reports. The district magistrate has allotted ₹46.22 lakh to the Government Institute of Medical Sciences in Greater Noida and ₹65 lakh to the Super Speciality Children Hospital in Sector 39 to develop Covid-19 laboratories so that these delays can be avoided.

“Reports of over 150 samples are pending as the load on labs is huge. To resolve this issue, we have allotted money to two government hospitals to develop laboratories. We expect one lab to be ready in four days while the other will be operational soon,” Suhas LY, district magistrate,said.

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