A fresh cluster of COVID-19 cases have emerged from a government hospital in Palakkad, prompting authorities to partially close down the building. Fifty two staff members at the Government Taluk hospital Alathur tested positive for the novel coronavirus. According to district authorities, 7 of them are doctors.
TNM spoke to district authorities who confirmed that antigen tests had been done on 157 staff members of the hospital. Out of this, 52 of them turned positive. Further, one doctor tested positive for the virus at the Railway Hospital in Palakkad, which is run by the Central Government, but is a COVID-19 First Line Treatment Centre in the district.
“Both hospitals have nearly stopped admitting patients. Only the casualty ward is currently functioning. The doctors and staff who have not been in contact with positive patients are still on duty. They are attending to casualty and emergency cases,” Dr Nasar, Assistant District Medical Officer told TNM.
"The Superintendent of the Government Taluk Hospital in Alathur had also come in contact of many positive cases and is currently in quarantine. We have temporarily brought in a replacement for him in the interim," Dr Nasar added.
Those tested positive have been shifted to First Line Treatment Centres or the District hospital which is the designated COVID-19 hospital in Palakkad.
This has increased the burden on the government hospital and two hospitals shutting down has made the battle tougher for the authorities. Tuesday saw Palakkad reporting 51 new cases of coronavirus being reported and by Wednesday the active cases in the district was 957.
“We give hospital staff and doctors the option of submitting a declaration form and opting for home quarantine. If they show symptoms of the virus or do not have adequate facilities to quarantine at home, then they are shifted to first line centres or hospitals. Currently, we have shifted all positive cases to first line centres or the district hospital. None of the positive patients in this cluster are in home quarantine,” Dr Nasar added.
The primary contacts of the patients have been instructed to be on home quarantine and observe themselves for symptoms of the virus.
According to reports, the cluster was formed after the staff members contracted the infection from six patients who were positive and who had visited the Alathur Government Taluk hospital.
"Only the district hospital is the designated COVID-19 hospital. But all of these hospitals are sample collection centres, for COVID-19. This is probably how the virus spread, with positive patients or symptomatic patients coming to drop off the samples" Dr Nasar added. He also added that those who tested negative in the antigen tests but showed symptoms of the virus will have to undergo an RT-PCR test to establish if they have contracted the infection or not.
Minister for Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe affairs and Law, AK Balan, also stated that if Palakkad saw a community spread, the district will have to consider one more lockdown. On Tuesday 51 persons tested positive for the virus. Out of these two of the patients had traveled from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat, two from the Gulf. Source of infection for five patients remain unknown.