Nine contacts of a 54-year-old COVID-19 patient with severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease on Thursday in Bengaluru. The 54-year-old daily wage worker, known as Patient 419, tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 on Wednesday after getting admitted to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences.
A resident of Hongasandra in Bommanahalli zone, Patient 419, worked at a scrap segregation unit in the area. Originally from Bihar, the man was living in a 10ft X 10ft hutment in Hongasandra along with four others, who were also working in the same unit.
On April 18, Patient 419 hailed an auto and went to Venu Healthcare Centre in Hongasandra after he started having trouble breathing. He was at Venu Healthcare Centre for a day and was referred to Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences on April 19. He hailed an auto and went to Jayadeva Hospital, Bengaluru Urban Deputy Commissioner Shivamurthy said.
Upon reaching Jayadeva, the doctors quarantined Patient 419 and took his samples, which were sent for testing. He tested positive on Wednesday and has been isolated.
According to the DC, the officials with the Bengaluru Urban District Health Department went to quarantine the doctors and nurses at Venu Health Care Centre on Thursday and were met with stiff resistance. “The hospital staff did not even report the case. Patient 419 has SARI. All hospitals with SARI patients have already been instructed to inform the government of such cases and the hospital staff here did not do that,” he said.
He further stated that when the health officials went to lock down the place and quarantine the staff, the doctor there allegedly locked the doors from the inside. “We had to bring them out. We have quarantined one doctor and four nurses from the hospital and it has been sealed,” said Dr Srinivas, the official with the Bengaluru District Health department.
On Thursday, nine contacts of Patient 419 tested positive – Patients 433 to 441, all of them men. These people are aged between 22 and 43 years. “Four of them were living with Patient 419. The others were living in a hutment next to his. We have sealed the area within a 100 m radius. So far, 161 primary and secondary contacts of Patient 419 have been quarantined,” Dr Srinivas added. The drivers of the autorickshaws the patient took have also been quarantined.
Dr Srinivas said that the health department would pursue legal action against doctors and staff at Venu Health Care Centre after their quarantine period ends.
The BBMP, however, has not confirmed whether ward number 189, where Hongasandra is located, would be sealed off completely.