Strict vigil helps bring down cases

CHANDIGARH

CHANDIGARH : Twenty-six healthcare professionals and a policewoman contracted Covid-19 infection since the first case was reported in Chandigarh on March 18. Most of them are back on duty at the city’s two tertiary care hospitals – Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research and Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32.

Work at the Sector 32 hospital was hit at one stage when 12 health workers tested positive out of 20 cases in town.

In Mohali, two doctors and a policeman were infected, out of which a doctor is in quarantine, while in Panchkula, 11 health professionals and policemen contracted the virus and 10 are in isolation.

A 28-year-old resident doctor of GMCH-32 says that testing positive and getting isolated from the family was a tough experience. “I felt low initially and even thought it was the end of my career. But I persisted and recovered to join back work,” she says.

After infection was reported among healthcare workers, the city’s hospitals extended the sphere of providing safety gear to nonCovid wards and areas.

“Safety of healthcare professionals is a must and we didn’t want to take any chances. Protective gear is being provided in emergency wards, which are the first point of contact between doctors and patients,” says PGI director Dr Jagat Ram.

“There is no room for complacency, so whenever, a healthcare worker dons the PPE, experts supervise it. There is a doffing area and the same activity takes place there. This has helped control the infection spread among healthcare workers,” spokesperson Dr Ashok Kumar said.

In Panckula, 11 health professionals and policemen have tested positive so far.

The doctors who tested positive are working with a private hospital and so is a nurse. They are all posted in a nonCovid ICU but had treated a chronic kidney patient who tested positive in June.

A family of four that works in the Civil Hospital of Panchkula also tested positive. The husband , 47, works in the post-mortem department, while the wife cooks at doctors’ residences .

Their two sons work as class four employees on contract. The woman had travelled to Rajpura to attend a funeral.

In Mohali, a 35-year-old doctor of a private hospital in Sector 69 tested positive on March 31, while on June 7, a policeman at the judicial complex was found positive.