The Indus Medical College and Hospital in Sindh's Tando Mohammad Khan district was closed, and its staff placed under quarantine, after a doctor at the health facility tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday.

The 60-year-old doctor was shifted to an isolation facility in Tando Mohammad Khan after his test turned out positive, the hospital's CEO, Dr Iqbal Memon, told Dawn.

“Around 100 of our doctors, paramedics, nurses, sanitary workers and other allied staff are in quarantine within the hospital,” he said, adding that no one was allowed to leave the hospital.

According to Dr Memon, samples for coronavirus tests of all 100 members of the staff would be taken on Sunday morning by the staff of the district health office (DHO) Tando Mohammad Khan. The samples will be tested in LUMHS’s Diagnostic and Research Laboratory (DRL) located in Liaquat University Hospital (LUH) city branch Hyderabad.

He revealed that only three or four female patients were currently admitted in the hospital who required gynaecological treatment. “They are completely separate [from the staff] and being taken care of accordingly,” he added.

He said the hospital staff would be allowed to leave only after their tests have been conducted by the DHO and they will be required to follow the government’s standard operating procedures (SOPs) after leaving.

Indus hospital is owned by the former vice-chancellor of the Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Prof Jan Mohammad Memon. The former VC himself is seriously ill and under treatment in Dubai. The hospital is Tando Mohammad Khan’s first private sector hospital.

Sindh has so far recorded more than 2,300 infections from Covid-19, more than half of which are cases of local transmission. Nearly 600 people have recovered from the virus in the province while 48 have died.