SHILLONG/TURA: The health department has informed that after a doctor of Shillong Civil Hospital tested positive, the OPD will remain closed on Friday but emergency services will operate.
In another development in Garo Hills, Phulbari Community Health Centre was sealed on Thursday after two patients who got admitted were tested positive.
“We sealed the CHC to conduct a complete sanitisation and undertake contact tracing of all the people who were primary and secondary contacts with the infected persons,” informed West Garo Hills district deputy commissioner Ram Singh.
Both the patients are returnees from Assam.
In a statement on Thursday, the health department said that the senior anesthesiologist at the Shillong Civil Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday.
The doctor had contracted the virus while attending a COVID-19 patient who was critically ill in the COVID unit of the hospital and the doctor developed symptoms a few days later after treating the critical patient, who passed away in NEIGRIHMS.
The department said that while the movement of the doctor is only in a few limited areas of the hospital and he hardly had any contact with patients, all the high-risk contacts of the doctor are from the COVID unit and follow a rigorous protocol and they are tested every 7th day and quarantined as per the state government protocol.
The government said the tests are also being done for all secondary contacts and other staff of the hospital.
“Samples have also been collected from them for the RT-PCR test. Reports of the antigen test of 330 samples of both high risk and low risk contacts have been declared negative. While the antigen test of the 16 high-risk contacts is negative,
they are being quarantined separately and their samples have already been taken for RT-PCR test”, the government said.
As per the health department’s protocol, all low-risk contacts who tested negative can continue their work.
Restrictions
The government said the movement of visitors at Civil Hospital is restricted for the next few days.
Sampling of returnees and other external contacts will not be conducted at Civil Hospital, Shillong on Friday to facilitate sampling of remaining contacts of the doctor at the hospital.
Besides, the OPD will also be closed on Friday.
The government has urged the public to be more empathetic towards the health workers and doctors who have been putting their lives at stake for the safety of the people.
In West Garo Hills, currently there are 17 active cases while six others, who were earlier positive, are being released to their homes after coming out negative.
Meanwhile, the COVID scare at Dadenggre hospital has subsided after all samples taken of the inmates turned out to be negative.
A malaria surveillance worker attached to the hospital has been found with traces of the virus during random testing early this week. He has since been admitted in a corona care centre.