The Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors has questioned the decision taken by Belagavi Institute of Medical Science to ask its post graduate students to vacate the hostel after one of the students tested positive for coronavirus.
"As one of the Post Graduate students has come COVID Positive, here all the inmates are instructed to vacate the Hostel with immediate effect till further orders. This is to prevent the spread of disease to others. They have to arrange for their own accommodation as per the order of the Director," a notice issued to the students by the warden of the hostel stated.
The Karnataka Association of Resident Doctors condemned the decision. "Is this the treatment given to healthcare workers who are working tirelessly to fight the spread of COVID-19?" a letter by the association representatives said.
The association questioned why the hospital cannot arrange facilities for primary contacts of the COVID-19 patient. In the letter, the association warned the medical institution against forcibly evicting its post-graduate students and asked the hospital to make alternative arrangements.
Healthcare workers across the state have tested positive for coronavirus but in most cases, the workers and their contacts are given facilities to quarantine themselves.
In most hospitals dealing with COVID-19 cases, healthcare workers are working in cyclical shifts which includes one week of quarantine after completing a one-week shift.
The medical institute in Belagavi found itself in the news last week when family members of a COVID-19 patient who passed away set ablaze an ambulance and tried to vandalise the hospital in Belagavi.
Belagavi district reported 217 new COVID-19 cases on Friday and the district currently has 2242 active cases. 70 deaths have been reported in the northern Karnataka district while 918 others infected with the virus have made a complete recovery.
Karnataka is currently grappling with over 72000 active COVID-19 cases of which 37618 cases are in Bengaluru. The state has reported a sustained spike in cases since July 1 and on Friday, there were over 36,000 COVID-19 tests conducted in the state.