Four doctors, medical staff at top Karachi hospitals infected with COVID-19

KARACHI: Four doctors and related staff at the top hospitals of Karachi, including the Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) and the Liaquat National Hospital (LNH), have tested positive for COVID-19, reported The News on Saturday.

Three employees of the AKUH, including a doctor, a radiologist, and a staff member, have contracted the coronavirus, compelling the hospital administration to suspend public testing of the virus. The hospital is now screening and testing AKUH doctors, paramedics, and staff for the virus.

Similarly, a doctor working at the Radiology Department of LNH, who recently returned from a religious gathering in Raiwind, has also been tested positive for the virus, and put in isolation at his home, the hospital administration said.

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“Three of our staff members, including a surgeon, a radiologist, and another staff member, have contracted COVID-19. They acquired the virus from ordinary patients who were not showing symptoms of the infectious disease,” an official of the AKUH told The News on Friday. 

"Following the confirmation of the coronavirus infection among staff, especially those not dealing with suspected and confirmed virus cases, the hospital has suspended the screening and testing of COVID-19 at its main campus, and is focusing at testing the AKUH staff," the official said.

“It is the community transmission of COVID-19 that resulted in infecting some of our staff members. Now an extensive screening of employees is underway, and dozens of AKUH staff have been put in isolation to contain the spread of the disease,” the official added. 

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According to the official, every patient coming to the hospital is now being treated under the World Health Organization (WHO) and Center for Disease Control (CDC) protocols with regards to an epidemic. "Even doctors have been directed to take precautionary measures," he noted. 

The Aga Khan University Hospital was the first private sector healthcare facility in Sindh that started screening and testing for the coronavirus back in February 2020 while first COVID-19 patient, a 22-year-old man who had returned from Iran, was also tested positive and treated here.

Sources within the hospital told The News that as many as 5-10 staff members had contracted the virus at the private health facility and by applying the contact tracing technique, the hospital administration has put around 150 people in isolation as a precautionary measure. 

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"In view of the emergent situation, the AKUH administration has suspended screening and testing of coronavirus at the Community Health Center in the main campus, and taken the decision to introduce a home testing service for suspected virus patients," a spokesperson of the AKUH told The News on Friday. 

“We are establishing this service, and within a couple of days, people would be apprised of an access number where they can approach the testing service for collection of samples that would be tested at the labs and results conveyed online,” the spokesperson added.

Furthermore, after some AKUH staff members tested positive for the COVID-19, the hospital administration has been rapidly converting a disease treatment center at Karimabad into a COVID-19 isolation and treatment facility, AKUH officials said. 

Hospital providing medical treatment to suspected, confirmed patients at par with international standards: AKUH

The AKUH spokesperson said that the hospital was providing medical treatment to suspected and confirmed coronavirus patients at par with international standards. 

The spokesperson further said that while taking care of patients affected by a virus, the chances of the medical staff getting infected also increase.  

The hospital further stated that it will conduct additional tests of coronavirus patients and provide additional facilities for those suffering from the virus.

Originally published in The News