Coronavirus Outbreak: 65 staffers of Lucknow's KGMU hospital quarantined after patient tests positive; private hospital with contact history shut

Lucknow: A private hospital and a diagnostic centre were shut and 65 staff members of the government-run King George’s Medical University (KGMU) in Uttar Pardesh’s Lucknow were quarantined after a patient who came in their contact tested positive for coronavirus, officials said.

According to officials, a 65-year-old man who had diabetes visited the Lucknow’s Medwell Hospital for the treatment of fever and cough over a week ago.  He was told to get an X-ray done, for which he approached Charak Diagnostic Centre.

As the man’s condition deteriorated and he complained of breathlessness, he was brought to the trauma centre of Lucknow’s KGMU on Saturday.  As his condition was serious, he was shifted to the emergency ward, KGMU sources said, adding that from there the man was taken to the neurology department after primary treatment.

Later, he tested positive for the infection and sent to the isolation ward, the sources said.

As a precaution, 65 employees of the trauma centre with whom he had come in contact have been quarantined, they said. “At present, the patient is on ventilator. Of the 65 staffers, 52 are nurses, paramedics and others," the sources added.

Chief Medical Officer Dr Narendra Agarwal on Monday wrote to the private hospital and the diagnostic centre, asking them to shut all operations and to provide a full list of their staff who attended to the patient.

“Ensure that all the staff of the centre be kept in home quarantine for 14 days. Besides, a list of doctors and paramedical staff attending the patient be provided at the earliest so that they can be tested," the letter read.