Mumbai: Four resident doctors suspected to be `reinfected' by virus

Four resident doctors at hospitals in Mumbai are suspected to have contracted coronavirus for a second time, an official of the Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors (MARD) said on Friday.

However, a senior doctor from one of the two hospitals said it was not clear whether it was a "re-infection" or mere continuation of the earlier coronavirus infection.

"Four resident doctors working at Sion and Nair hospitals have tested positive for coronavirus again. All four had tested positive for the infection a month ago as well," the senior MARD functionary said.

The Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital in Sion and BYL Nair Charitable Hospital in Mumbai Central area are two major facilities where COVID-19 patients are being treated.

Asked why the cases are being described as "suspected" reinfection, a senior doctor from Sion Hospital said, "As of today, we only know that these four resident doctors have tested positive for COVID-19 again. It is possible that they were never cured of the first infection."

"If the genome of the virus from the first infection is different from that from the second infection, then only we can call it reinfection," he said.

"RT-PCR test only confirms infection but it is not a genome test," he added.

Of the four resident doctors, one is from Sion Hospital while three are from Nair Hospital.

All four have been working in COVID-19 ICU wards and were given PPE kits and other protective gear, the senior doctor said. 

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