2.8 mn people to be screened in Bhilwara after corona outbreak
COVID-19 In last 4 days, 14 cases have been reported from hospital in Bhilwara where infected doctor works; total cases in Raj rise to 29
JAIPUR: Health workers have undertaken a door-to-door screening of Bhilwara district’s 28 lakh population after a doctor infected with coronavirus sparked concerns of a community outbreak, officials said.
In the last four days after the doctor tested positive, 14 cases have been reported from Bhilwara, all from the private Bangar hospital where the infected doctor works. Among the positive cases are two fellow doctors, one doctor’s wife and 10 nursing staff of the hospital, officials said.
The positive cases in Rajasthan went up to 29 on Monday as one more case was reported from Pratapgarh. The total number of samples taken in the state is 1105, of which 1051 tested negative and 25 are under process.
Bhilwara CMHO Dr Mushtaq Khan said the health department has divided people in the district into two categories and is taking samples – high risk and general.
The high-risk category comprises those who were in direct contact with the infected doctor or nursing staff. The general category comprises those who were in touch with the people directly in contact with the doctor.
Among those screened, there are 25 high-risk cases and 2242 general cases who have been kept in home isolation. Teams of experts from the National Centre for Disease Control, Delhi and WHO are camping in Bhilwara and monitoring the situation.
Collector Rajendra Bhatt said the intensive drill was necessi
tated as the doctor has worked in the hospital before being detected with the virus. “There are 223 staff in the hospital and hundreds of patients from Bhilwara and nearby districts visit the hospital OPD. We have to trace all those who came in contact with the doctor,” he said.
An intensive containment exercise was undertaken over the past three days with people quarantined in their homes. As many as 846 health workers have surveyed the 77,000 habitations in Bhliwara city area which has a population of 4.5 lakh, said Bhatt.
Another 1600 health workers have fanned out in rural areas to survey around 24 lakh people in 6 lakh habitations, he said.
According to Dr KK Sharma, director, public health, a list of 5000 OPD patients at Bangar hospital was prepared and Rapid Response Teams screened the people. He said 83 patients admitted in isolation ward and their family members have been screened. Homes of 13 people found positive have been sanitised. Samples of 108 family members of the 13 persons have been taken. In addition, 28 patients admitted in ICU at Bangar hospital as well as 172 of their contacts have been screened, he said