Published 13:39 IST, April 12th 2020
Healthcare workers in Jharkhand's Bokaro General hospital quarantined after Covid contact
Around 50 health care workers including doctors in Bokaro General Hospital are quarantined after coming in contact with a patient who was coronavirus positive
A total of 50 healthcare workers from the Bokaro General Hospital in Jharkhand have been sent into isolation after coming in contact with a patient who had tested positive for coronavirus.
More healthcare workers test positive
ANI reported Bokaro Deputy District Collector Ravi Ranjan Mishra stating that the ICU ward of the hospital will now be disinfected and fumigated. Jharkhand has reported 17 positive cases and one death due to the virus.
The news reports come at a time when multiple healthcare workers across the country have pointed out the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kit which includes gloves, masks, etc. Last week, more than 40 doctors, nurses and other health care workers at Delhi State Cancer Institute in the capital and Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai tested positive for coronavirus. The two hospitals have been sealed. There has also been a shortage in the supply of ventilators, defibrillators, ICU beds etc.
On Monday, AIIMS Resident Doctors' Association wrote a letter to PM Modi asking for better facilities and security for health care workers who have been stigmatized by certain individuals.
Lockdown extension likely
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Friday said that the extension of lockdown would depend on the emerging situation in the state. CM Soren, who had chaired the all-party meeting today to discuss the COVID-19 crisis, told media persons that "the extension of the lockdown will depend upon the emerging situation" in the state.
"The other states have a different situation from ours. More than seven lakh labourers from Jharkhand are stuck in other states. We must think about them as well," he added. He asked for more aid from the Centre to battle the novel coronavirus and warned the anti-social elements, who are trying to vitiate the atmosphere in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Updated 13:39 IST, April 12th 2020