Two top medical institutes in Bengaluru have been affected by the recent spurt of COVID-19 infections in the past few days, as the rise of COVID-19 cases continues unabated in the state.
These two hospitals are the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) and Sri Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Science.
Officials working in NIMHANS confirmed that six women staffers of the hospital tested positive after a patient who was admitted last week at the emergency ward had tested positive. All these staffers were in institutional quarantine as they had come in contact with the infected patient.
Dr KS Meena, NIMHANS, Media Cell, told reporters, “They are among those who were quarantined who had come in contact with the patient who had tested positive. Two are security guards, four are sanitation workers. A total of 36 people have been quarantined, out of whom six are positive. The six were shifted to Victoria hospital yesterday (Saturday).”
She added, “13 patients and 36 staff were categorized as high-risk contacts.”
TNM has earlier reported how last Sunday, NIMHANS had shifted its emergency care unit to adjacent buildings within the premises following the incident. The entire building, where the emergency unit was shut for sanitization purposes.
Similarly, 13 hospital staff at Jayadeva were put under quarantine as one patient suffering from cardiac ailments had tested positive for COVID-19 after she succumbed. The Hindu reported that the 74-year-old woman had died on June 12 in the intensive care unit.
Jayadeva director Dr CN Manjunath, who is also the nodal officer for COVID-19 testing in the state, said that even though all staff working in ICU wear N95 masks and face shields, they have been put in quarantine as a precautionary measure.
He further said that patients and concerned family members, including those in adjacent cubicles, have been isolated.