Mumbai hospital sealed as 3 doctors, 26 nurses test COVID-19 positive

Authorities have sealed off Mumbai’s Wockhardt Hospital after three doctors and 26 nurses tested positive for novel coronavirus. BMC health officials have confirmed the development on Monday (April 6). A civic official said no one is allowed to enter or exit the private hospital.

The hospital has several employees from Kerala, leading to a senior Congress leader from the southern state, Ramesh Chennithala, to urge the Maharashtra health minister to ensure safety of Malayalee nurses working there.

“Called Maharashtra health minister Shri. Rajesh Tope ji @rajeshtope11 seeking urgent intervention to ensure safety of 40 Covid19 positive Malayalee nurses working @ a pvt hospital in Mumbai,” tweeted Chennithala, the leader of opposition in the Kerala Assembly.

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Meanwhile, at least 92 staff members of the DY Patil Medical College and Hospital, a private medical facility located in Maharashtra’s Pimpri Chinchwad township, have been quarantined after an accident victim, who was being treated there, tested positive for coronavirus.

However, a senior civic official denied speculations of the COVID-19 patient having direct or indirect link to the Tablighi Jamaat which organised a religious congregation at Nizamuddin in Delhi last month that later emerged as a coronavirus hotspot in the country.

The patient, an autorickshaw driver, met with the accident on March 31, said Jitendra Bhawalkar, dean of the hospital. “The man came to the emergency section on March 31. He was operated upon and on the second day, he developed fever. The doctors got suspicious and his samples were sent for testing which came out positive for coronavirus,” he said.

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The patient was immediately shifted to the Yashwantrao Chavan Memorial Hospital. “We then tried to find out those who came in contact with the man and quarantined our 42 doctors and 50 paramedical staff members as a precaution. Samples of all of them have been sent for tests,” Bhawalkar said.

Some people claimed the man has link to the Tablighi Jamaat while some say he had transported people belonging to the Islamic organisation, the official said, adding that the patient hid the information from the hospital after he was admitted following the accident.

Asked if the man has any link to the Jamaat, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar said the patient does not have any connection to the outfit. “Right now we can say he is not from Tablighi Jamaat. He is from the different community altogether,” the official said.

(With inputs from agencies)