SHILLONG: Confusion reigned supreme after there were conflicting reports about a pregnant woman and her husband being tested COVID positive at NEIGRIHMS on Wednesday.
Social media was abuzz about alleged negligent handling of the case at NEIGRIHMS, giving rise to rumours of re-imposition of lockdown here. In fact, at one point Police Bazar area suddenly had a thin crowd presence and some shops chose to keep shutters down.
Later in the evening, NEIGRIHMS came out with the following statement of clarification issued by its Nodal Officer Dr Vijay Noel Nongpiur:
This patient and her husband arrived from Delhi on 30th May 2020. As per State Government protocol they underwent the mandatory Rapid Antibody and RT-PCR testing. The husband was in MATI Quarantine Centre and the wife who was in her 3rd trimester of pregnancy was home quarantined. After 48 hours of initial testing they were both Rapid Antibody and RT- PCR negative. Therefore the husband was released from MATI Quarantine Center and put on home quarantine.
On 6th June 2020, the husband developed symptoms suggestive of COVID, attended Civil Hospital, Shillong where RT-PCR sample was taken and sent to NEIGRIHMS for testing and the patient was admitted in Civil Hospital, Shillong.
On 9th June 2020 evening, the wife developed labour pain and attended NEIGRIHMS. As per protocol, she was initially seen in the COVID Screening area and since both her recent Rapid Test and RT-PCR were negative, she was referred to the labour room through Casualty. Subsequently, the State Nodal Officer who was in touch with the NEIGRIHMS Nodal Officer, informed that the husband’s second test had come out positive. With this information, the patient was immediately shifted to the designated COVID area and urgent PCR testing was done. Furthermore, considering the high index of suspicion, the Casualty and Labour Room visited by patient were temporarily shut down and the DHS(MI) was informed accordingly. The emergency testing done at NEIGRIHMS confirmed her to be COVID Positive.
In the hospital, contact tracing was immediately initiated and other contact details were also shared with the State Nodal Officer for similar action, as per protocol. The Casualty and Labour Room of the hospital as well as the approach to these areas are undergoing thorough cleaning and sanitization, as per the Government of India protocol and shall be operational shortly.
NEIGRIHMS had an emergency meeting today, chaired by the Director and all other senior officials, to review the COVID preparedness. All areas of the hospital, except Labor Ward and Casualty are functioning normally. The Labor Ward and the Casualty are expected to be running this evening.
The patient is in early stage of labour in the designated COVID Section of the hospital and she is doing well. All medical support is being provided.
