Covid-19: Total cases rise to 23 in OMC, 7 in NIMS

By Newsmeter Network  Published on  3 Jun 2020 8:07 AM GMT
Covid-19: Total cases rise to 23 in OMC, 7 in NIMS

Hyderabad: The total number of medical staff infected with Coronavirus in government-run Osmania Medical College has increased to 23 on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases among the doctors in the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) reached seven this morning.

In Osmania, 5 more hostellers, 4 internees and one PG student from the anaesthesia department and two PGs from the microbiology department have been tested positive today.

Test samples of almost 280 close contacts of infected PG doctors and interns of Osmania were sent for Covid-19 test on June 2. This also includes samples of 170 hostellers.

The first Covid-19 case among the OMC students was reported on May 30 when a female student from the gynaecology department tested positive. After that, 11 students and an MBBS student tested positive. All infected students were hostellers who used to study in reading rooms and often visited the hostel mess. There are more than 400 post graduate (PG) students in Osmania.

According to the Telangana Junior Doctors’ Association (TJUDA), the PG students have been working in the outpatient (OP) department of Osmania General Hospital (OGH) which is overcrowded with patients. There is not enough safety equipment for the students, it said.

Following the increasing number of cases amongst the medicos, the outpatient registration timings at OGH have been reduced to two hours. However, the OP visiting timings will remain the same. It has also been decided that pre-operative tests be conducted on all students.

Meanwhile, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association (T-JUDA) wrote a letter to the authorities demanding quality Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for interns working in the Covid-19 wards across the state.

The T-JUDA has complained that PPE kits and N-95 masks provided by the government were of poor quality and not sufficient. Speaking to NewsMeter, Dr. Vishnu, T-JUDA president said, “ The PPEs and N-95 masks provided by the government are not of standard quality. There is no ISO mark on the equipment. Also, the PPEs provided are made of plastic. The interns are drenched in sweat after wearing the PPEs for 10 minutes. Besides, the hospitals do not have basic facilities for interns and many are dehydrated. There are roughly around 1,300-1,400 interns working across Telangana government hospitals.”

On June 2, a senior doctor from the pathology department at Gandhi Hospital also tested positive for Covid-19 in Hyderabad.

Hailing from Mahendra Hills of Secunderabad, he was leading the department’s activities since the pandemic broke out in the state. Then a PG student at Gandhi Hospital also tested positive, according to unconfirmed reports.

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