After a doctor from a military hospital in Dehradun tested positive for Covid-19 last week, a second healthcare professional from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Rishikesh tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday, officials said.
Another young woman, who delivered a baby on Saturday in Government Doon Medical College Hospital, also tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday. With this, the tally of Covid-19 cases in Uttarakhand has increased to 50.
UB Mishra, dean of AIIMS Rishikesh said that a nursing officer working with the urology department tested positive on Sunday after first showing symptoms on April 24.
“The nursing officer first showed mild symptoms on April 24, after which his samples were taken for testing on April 25. Till now what we have understood is that the nursing officer might have contracted the virus from an asymptomatic person,” said Mishra.
The officials at AIIMS Rishikesh are now tracing close contacts of the health care worker and everyone will be quarantined and tested.
“We will be putting all the staff and patients who came into contact with the positive patient in quarantine and everyone will be tested. Patients will be discharged from the hospital only after their test results show negative. No new patient will be admitted to the block where the nursing officer worked. However, general OPD services and Covid-19 OPD will be working as usual,” added Mishra.
In Dehradun, a 32-year-old woman who gave birth to a child on Saturday also tested positive for the virus on Sunday, the source of which is being confirmed by health officials.
Dr Dinesh Chauhan, district surveillance officer for Covid-19 in Dehradun said that the woman is a resident of Azad Nagar Colony, a containment area in Dehradun and had already been admitted to the hospital as she was pregnant.
“After observing the new-born baby for some time, the doctors will decide whether to test the baby or not. We are tracing close contacts of the patient and the immediate family has already been quarantined, who will also be tested,” said Dr Chauhan.
So far, Uttarakhand has tested around 5,000 people with 50 positive cases and 4,609 samples testing negative.
