Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital declared ‘containment zone’ as 3 doctors, 26 nurses test positive for coronavirus
Our OPD and emergency services are shut and there will be no admissions, a Wockhardt Hospital spokesperson said (Representational Image, Courtesy: globuscure.com)
BMC authorities have declared Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai Central as a ‘containment zone’ after over two dozen doctors and nurses tested positive for coronavirus.
In a bid to contain the spread, the civic body has barred the entry and exit of Wockhardt Hospital until each infected patient tests negative in two consecutive tests. The canteen is still functional and will continue to provide food to the staff and patients.
“Our OPD and emergency services are shut and there will be no admissions,” a Wockhardt Hospital spokesperson said, without delving into more details.
According to officials, at least 26 nurses and three doctors from the hospital tested positive for COVID-19 in a span of one week.
“It is unfortunate that such a big cluster of cases have come from a medical facility. They should have taken precautions,” Suresh Kakani, the Additional Municipal Commissioner was quoted as saying.
A team led by the executive health officer has been set up to probe how the coronavirus spread among so many in a hospital setting, he added.
The infected nurses have been shifted to the hospital from their quarters while the doctors have been admitted to Seven Hills and SL Raheja Hospitals. Additionally, swab samples of over 270 hospital staff and some patients have been collected and sent for tests.
As of now, the hospital has refrained from commenting on how so many cases were reported from its facility.
Meanwhile, the source of the infection has been traced to a 70-year-old angioplasty patient who passed away. He reportedly came in contact with two nurses who tested positive later.
A surgeon residing in Dharavi, from where multiple cases have emerged, and working at Wockhardt also tested positive. The infection is believed to have spread from the affected staffers.
After the rampant spread came to light, some of the hospital’s nurses alleged that they were not provided personal protective equipment like the surgical or N95 masks while attending to the patients. The management, however, has refuted the allegation.
Apart from Wockhardt, the civic body sealed Jaslok Hospital last week after several of its staffers also tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the total number of positive cases in Maharashtra rose to 781 on Monday while the death toll surged to 45.
