Vizag KGH hospital morgue temporarily shut after forensics doctor gets COVID-19

With primary contacts of the doctor from the forensics department under quarantine, alternate arrangements are being made for autopsies.
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The morgue located in the King George Hospital (KGH) premises in Visakhapatnam was closed temporarily, after a PG doctor tested positive for coronavirus. The doctor, who was from the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology of the Andhra Medical College, had reportedly been conducting autopsies at the morgue for the past few weeks. 

While another PG doctor from the orthopedics department also tested positive for coronavirus, KGH Superintendent Dr Arjuna said that all primary contacts of both doctors have tested negative for the virus and have still been placed under quarantine as a precautionary measure. 

With most of the professors and PG doctors of the forensics department going into quarantine, authorities have been making alternate arrangements for carrying out autopsies. According to The New Indian Express, Andhra Medical College principal Sudhakar said that district hospitals are being requested to carry out the autopsies. 

Around 20 people from the forensics department had reportedly come into contact with the doctor, including four other PG students and paramedical staff apart from professors from the department. Sanitation works are being carried out all over KGH and in the hostels of PG doctors. 

Authorities have claimed that the doctors had been provided PPE (Personal Protective Equipment), and the infection occurred despite precautionary measures being taken. 

On Monday, Andhra Pradesh reported 304 new cases of COVID-19, of which 246 were local. With this, the state’s tally went up to 6,456 cases in total, of which 5,087 are local cases, and the rest are those who returned from other states and countries after the lockdown was put in place. 

With 2 more COVID-19 deaths,  the death toll in the state went up to 86. One death was reported in Kurnool district and another in Anantapur district.

As many as 47 more patients were discharged from hospitals on Monday after recovering from COVID-19. With this, a total of 3,385 people in the state have recovered from the disease so far. 

The state tested 15,173 samples in the 24 hours till 9 am on Monday, and has tested a total of 5,67,375 samples so far.

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