Hospital staff quarantined in Pune after accident victim tests positive for Covid19

Pune: At least 92 staff members, including several doctors, of the D Y Patil Hospital here in Maharashtra have been quarantined after an accident victim, who was being treated at the facility, tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Monday.

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 D Y Patil Medical College and Hospital, a private medical facility located in Pimpri Chinchwad township here.

"The man,who is in his 30s, came to the emergency section of the hospital on March 31 after the accident. 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.

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 claim 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 Tablighi Jamaat, Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Commissioner Shravan Hardikar said the patient does not have any connection to the outfit.

"Thepatient is in ICU. People are speculating about his links, but right now we can only say he is not from the Tablighi Jamaat. He is from the different community altogether," the official said