Two resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital test positive: Sources

NEW DELHI: Two resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital have tested positive for Coronavirus, official sources confirmed on Wednesday.

One of the doctors is a thirdyear post-graduate student of the biochemistry department and had just returned from Dubai. The other one contracted the infection from a patient, again highlighting the inadequate protective gear for medical personnel at even the top hospitals of the national capital.

Both doctors showed symptoms of COVID-19 and their test results came positive two days ago. They are now undergoing treatment at the hospital’s isolation ward.

This takes the number of infected doctors in Delhi to six all infections were detected over the last eight days as the number of COVID-19 positive people in capital jumped from 35 to 120.

The first to be infected was a doctor from a mohalla clinic - he contracted it from a patient who also returned from Saudi Arabia. Around 900 people who came in contact with the doctors had to be quarantined. His wife, who is also a doctor, contracted the disease from him.

The risk of infection from patients has pushed doctors to ask for better quality and adequate supply of protective gear. On Monday, the Centre said it was trying to procure bulk quantities of such gear, called personal protective equipment (PPE), domestically and from South Korea and China.

Meanwhile, total confirmed cases as of Wednesday stood at 1,637 with 1,466 active cases, 38 deaths, and 132 recoveries.