LARKANA: An associate professor tested positive for Covid-19 on Friday, three days after visiting a suspected patient of coronavirus at medical unit-III of Chandka Medical College Hospital.

The unit’s head confirmed the professor might have contracted the virus from the patient, who later died but unfortunately the hospital could not take his sample for test. The professor was later quarantined at home and samples of six doctors and four paramedics working at the unit were collected for tests, he said.

Moreover, doctors and staff at chest unit adjacent to medical unit-III have been on tenterhooks since Wednesday when they came to know that a patient suffering from bilateral basal pneumonia had in reality Covid-19 and he had stayed in the chest unit for three days, said sources.

The patient was admitted to the unit on Saturday and his samples were collected for the virus test on Tuesday. As soon as he was diagnosed with Covid-19, the patient left the hospital against doctors’ advice, said the sources.

Perhaps the patient already knew about his ailment but he kept it a secret and the moment the test confirmed his fears he escaped the ward, said a doctor, adding he had come from Dari mohalla which had already been sealed three days ago after surfacing of virus-infected persons in the locality.

The sources said that samples of nine doctors including head of the department and five paramedics had been taken for Covid-19 test on Thursday after the patient’s escape.

Doctors expressed the fear that the patient had remained in the ward for three days, which was quite worrisome for them as he might have infected many people around him.

They said that many doctors and paramedics who were performing duties without any personal protective equipment (PPE) or incomplete gear were always exposed to the threat of contracting the virus.

They said that test results were expected on Saturday but till then the medical unit-III and the chest ward were open. Most of the doctors at the chest ward had isolated themselves as soon as the test result of the patient turned out to be Covid-19 positive, said the sources.

Munawwar Mangi, general secretary of paramedical association CMCH, said that they had received some PPE. “On Thursday we handed over a list of paramedics to medical superintendent of CMCH Dr Irshad Hussain Kazmi and he promised providing us complete sets of PPE,” he said.

He underlined the need for immediate screening of all paramedics and doctors at the hospital in the wake of incidents of doctors falling victims to the contagion.

According to control room at the deputy commissioner’s office, the number of local transmission of the virus rose to 77 with 11 new cases as on Thursday night. Tests of 771 suspected cases had been conducted, it said.

As of Friday, major portions of seven localities — Nawan Tak, Dari, Bakrani Road, Empire Road, Samiabad, Ali Goharabad and Qafila Serai — remained sealed to contain spread of the virus after Covid-19 positive cases emerged from the localities a few days ago.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2020