Top brass of MP health dept under quarantine after 11 test +ve for Covid

BHOPAL: Nearly the entire top brass of Madhya Pradesh’s health department is under quarantine after 11 of department, including two Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and the director of health services, have tested positive for Covid-19 since Saturday.

Eight of them have tested positive on Sunday.

The number of officials who tested positive on Sunday, including an additional director, a joint director and four deputy directors, has thrown the health department into a tizzy and has driven several other officers from health and other departments into self-quarantine.

All the officers were part of meetings held in the state secretariat and health directorate to discuss plans to combat the disease and monitor measures mandated by the state government.

The Char Imli locality, where most of these bureaucrats reside, has been gripped with fear as an IAS officer, who has tested positive, insists on being treated at home so that she can continue her work with the department. The Bhopal district administration tried to convince her into being hospitalised, but she refused. However, the administration pasted a sticker outside her bungalow on Sunday advising people not to visit her.

The officer did not respond to phone calls.

Chief medical and health officer (CMHO), Bhopal Sudhir Kumar Deharia said, “Of 97 samples sent for tests, 23 have been found positive for Covid-19. Most are either related to the health department, or from Jamaatis who came from outside.”