Fear looms on Faridkot med college as 15 doctors test positive in 8 days

FARIDKOT: More members of the staff at the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital (GGSMCH), Faridkot, are at the risk of contracting infection as 15 of the doctors and three nurses at the institute have tested positive for the coronavirus in the last eight days.

A nurse, who tested positive on Thursday, is a contact of some doctors found infected earlier.

College principal Dr Deepak John Bhatti said all positive members of the staff are asymptomatic.

“We have prepared the lists of their contacts and put them in self-isolation. Their samples have been sent for testing. The working of the orthopaedic department has been affected as most of the infected doctors are from it,” he added.

Since July 11, the medical college has put 48 other doctors, junior residents and medical students under quarantine after they were suspected of having come in contact with those found infected.

Samples of 30 contacts were collected on Thursday and sent for testing, it is learnt.

District epidemiologist Dr Anita Chauhan said, “Most of the doctors contracted the virus through the contacts of a junior resident who had visited Jaipur in the first week of July.

He was tested positive on July 9.

There is a fear of more health workers having been exposed to the virus. We have advised the college administration to close the departments with cases of infection.”

THREE NURSES ALSO INFECTED; 48 OTHER MEMBERS OF STAFF AND MEDICAL STUDENTS PUT UNDER QUARANTINE SINCE JULY 11

DIRECTORATE TEAM VISITS COLLEGE

A team of the Punjab directorate of research and medical education on Thursday visited the medical college at Faridkot to check the preparedness to tackle the Covid-19 outbreak.

Dr Bhatti said the college is getting samples from eight Punjab districts for Covid-19 testing. “Some change was made in the protocol for testing labs on July 1.

The DRME team visited to check it. This is a routine procedure,” he added.