Member of Lokpal tests positive for Covid-19, docs say in a critical state

NEW DELHI: Judicial member of the Lokpal and former chief justice of the Chhattisgarh high court, Ajay Kumar Tripathi, 62, tested positive for Covid-19 late on Friday night.

He was in the isolation facility at the main AIIMS campus and was later moved to Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre, which has been converted into a dedicated Covid-19 hospital.

He has been admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital and is currently on a ventilator.

“His condition is critical, and he is on a ventilator,” said an official from the hospital, on condition of anonymity.

So far, 445 people have contracted the infection and six have died of it in the city.

He is the second patient admitted to the 240-bed facility, which opened on Saturday. Around 120 of these beds have ventilator support. All trauma cases have now been diverted to the main AIIMS campus, where they are handled in the emergency ward.

Apart from the five hospitals designated by the Delhi government for the treatment of Covid-19 patients, this is the only other stand-alone facility doing so. The hospital also plans to have one of the operation theatres (OT) dedicated for surgeries on Covid-19 patients.

On Friday, doctors from gynaecology department of AIIMS used a minor OT for the delivery of a pregnant woman with Covid-19. She gave birth to a healthy baby. Her husband too had contracted the disease.

Lights and anaesthesia table had been brought from other departments to equip the OT for a major procedure.