SCTIMST Doctor tests Covid-19 positive, 30 colleagues now isolated

Kerala: Havoc brew at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) after a doctor working at the institute tested positive for coronavirus. As a result,  30 of his colleagues who whom he came under contact have now been kept in isolation under medical observation.

The doctor had returned from Spain on March 1, and reported on duty March 2 onwards

He began complaining of sore throat on March 8. He wore a mask while attending to his duties, including seeing patients on March 10 and 11.

Thereafter on March 12, he was directed to be kept in isolation after Spain got included in the list of nations affected by Covid-19. When he was finally made to undergo a repeat test for coronavirus on Sunday, March 14, he tested positive

As a result now, 30 of his colleagues including senior doctors and head of departments have now gone into isolation, being circumstantial forced to abandon patient care to prevent any risk of exposure to patients

They have written to the Director of the institution to discharge patients waiting for surgery and other treatments and to take in only dire emergencies, reports the Hindu.

SCTIMST is an institution of national importance under the central government's Department of Science and Technology and offers expert treatment, especially in cardiology and neurology.

With these many professionals not available for duty, normal services at the premier institute are likely to be affected, even though the authorities are trying to ensure that the hospital functioning is smooth.

Read Also: Coronavirus update from Kerala: 3 persons who tested positive now stable, Dr Harsh Vardhan

Another cause of concern in the whole matter is that Union Minister of State for External Affairs, V. Muraleedharan, had held a meeting with departmental heads last week during which a few of these doctors kept under observation had participated reports IANS.

Read Also: Coronavirus Update: Kerala on alert after China returned medical student tested positive