The North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health & Medical Sciences (NEIGRIHMS) in Meghalaya has recorded 13 patients including one health worker have tested positive for COVID-19.
Six new cases were detected on Monday.
Director of NEIGRIHMS, Dr P Bhattacharyaa told reporters that one nurse who tested positive was working in a non-COVID area in the hospital, while 12 others are patients.
Some of the health services in the hospital were temporarily shut down after being exposed to a COVID-19 patient who is from the BSF headquarters at Umpling.
The BSF personnel who tested positive on July 9, is being treated at the COVID Ward of NEIGRIHMS.
Bhattacharyaa informed that emergency services have commenced on Sunday and the hospital is on the job to test all high risk contacts.
NEIGRIHMS medical superintendent Dr Noor Topno said that a total of 111 persons have been identified as high risk contacts while 121 are low risk contacts of the COVID-19 positive patients.
He said that out of 30 samples of the high risk contacts tested, 6 patients were positive, and the rest 24 were negative.
He also informed 6 positive patients are the high risk contacts of one BSF personnel, who is the first positive patient of NEIGRIHMS.
“Two other positive cases have the history of inter-state travel to Kolkata and North Tripura, while five others were detected during screening,” he explained.
On the nurse who tested positive, Topno said that she was not connected to the ward where the BSF patient was admitted and she has not worked in COVID-19 area or having any contact with COVID staff or patients.
The Medical Superintendent said that it appears that the nurse has not got the infection from NEIGRIHMS.
“The list of high risk contacts in the area she was working has been drawn. Presumptive information is that, she has not got it from the hospital.
“She is staying in Demseiñïong locality and there is a possibility she might have picked it up from that area. But we cannot say till the report comes out,” he added.