Jammu / The doctor who took samples of corona patients, got infection; Report of wife, father and servant also positive

Jammu. … ‘I do not understand what is happening? My husband is informing me. We three people are positive and no one is coming here to help us. There was not even a call from the authorities. An ambulance is standing outside and they are saying all three of you come and sit down. There is a lady inside, for whom we have been screaming for four days that she will die from a heart attack. She herself has not brought this virus from her home. Her son has fallen ill due to hospital negligence, as he was not given personal protective equipment. It has happened because of that. He is in the hospital. Papa is ill inside. Why no one understands us as humans. ‘

These words refer to the wife, whose husband is a senior doctor in the Microbiology Department of the Government Medical College, GMC, Jammu. Being a doctor, her husband used to collect samples of corona infected, but now the report of her corona test itself has come positive. In addition to the doctor, on Wednesday evening, his wife, father and his housekeeper have also been found to be Corona positive. All these have been kept in the isolation ward of a hospital in Jammu.

His wife is also a doctor. One of his videos is going viral on social media. The video was recorded before his Corona report arrived. In this video the wife further says, ‘We have been in Quarantine for three days. Our samples were taken in the morning. Right now my husband is telling me that he has got a call. We are positive. I have nothing to do with anyone. I have to do with my family because we have done nothing. We took all precautions ourselves. My husband is ill because he did not receive PPE in the hospital. If someone gets something, who will I ask for accountability? I have nothing to do with any politics.

Hospital said- they were not part of the Corona Testing Team

The Head of Microbiology Department of GMC Hospital had made an irresponsible statement. In a statement to Jammu’s local newspaper Daily Excelsior, Dr. Shashi S. Sudan had said that these doctors were not part of the Corona virus testing team. The team is trying to find out whether he and his family had not come in contact with anyone from Iran, Saudi Arabia or Indonesia. It was believed that he had an infection from outside somewhere while on duty in the hospital. While on the duty roster of GMC Hospital it is written that the doctors were on duty from 13 to 19 March. During this time he was accompanied by three people from the Department of Microbiology. His team was collecting samples of Corona-infected patients. A close friend of the doctor’s family says, ‘One day after returning home from duty, he saw some of Corona’s simptoms. When the test was done, his report came positive on 30 March.

67 patients of Corona in Jammu and Kashmir, mostly returned from Tablighi Jamaat 

So far, 70 cases of corona have been reported in Jammu and Kashmir. 53 of which are from Kashmir and 17 are from Jammu. Two patients have also died. However, two patients from Jammu have fully recovered. The government has declared more than 30 villages in 8 districts of Jammu and Kashmir as ‘Red Zone’. Evacuation of people from homes is strictly prohibited in these areas.

Currently, 52 patients are placed in the isolation ward of the hospital. 516 patients are quarantined in the hospital. Whereas, 3 thousand 961 people have been kept under observation at their homes. So far, a sample of 977 people has been tested, of which the 911 report has been negative. 

The government has so far identified more than 2000 people who were in contact with Corona infected. All these will be tested to prevent the corona from spreading. In the positive case, it is mostly the same people who joined the Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin, New Delhi. The government has also started legal action against 10 people accused of hiding travel history.