A senior doctor, who is a senior Anesthesiologist at Shillong Civil Hospital, has tested positive for Covid-19 in Meghalaya.
A statement issued by the Commissioner and Secretary (Health & Family Welfare Department), Sampath Kumar on Thursday night said that an OPD of the hospital will be closed on Friday.
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“The doctor had contracted this disease while attending a Covid-19 patient who was critically ill in the Covid Unit of the hospital and the said doctor developed symptoms a few days later after treating the critical patient (who later passed away at NEIGRIHMS).
“While the movement of the doctor is only in a few limited areas of the hospital and he hardly had any contact with patients, it is hereby informed that all the high-risk contacts of this doctor are from the Covid Unit and follow a rigorous protocol where they are tested every 7 days and quarantined as per the State Government protocol,” the statement said.
Kumar said that as a matter of extra caution, tests are being done for all secondary contacts and other staff of the hospital.
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“Samples have also been collected from them for the RT-PCR test. Reports of the Antigen Test of 330 samples of both high risk and low risk contacts have been declared negative.
“While the Antigen Test of the 16 high risk contacts is negative, they are being quarantined separately and their samples have already been taken for RT PCR test,” he said.
As per the State Health Department’s protocol , all low-risk contacts who have tested negative can continue their work and attend their duties.
Meanwhile the Commissioner and Secretary said that while there have been instances wherein healthcare workers are stigmatized during such incidents, the Government advises the public and solicits cooperation from all community members to be more empathetic towards the health workers and doctors who have been putting their lives at stake for the safety of our people.
“In this regard, the Community Covid-19 Management Committees are hereby requested to ensure that there is no panic about this incident in their respective localities as healthcare workers have always been extra-careful about their behavior in their workspaces as well as personal space,” Kumar added.