VISAKHAPATNAM: A King George Hospital (KGH) nurse is among the five coronavirus cases reported from Visakhapatnam on Saturday. The nurse was on Covid-19 duty at Visakhapatnam Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS). After she tested positive, health and GVMC officials swung into action and shifted all her contacts, including family members, to quarantine camps, and Prahladapuram Road in Gopalapatnam was barricaded.
KGH superintendent G Arjuna said the nurse, who was sent on deputation to VIMS, worked there till April 29. She underwent a Covid test as per the guidelines. Except for mild fever and minor discomfort, she did not show any other symptoms of the virus, the official added. Arjuna said all 20 nurses who were on duty with her were advised home quarantine. “All of them have tested negative, but another test will be conducted on them after a week for confirmation.” All doctors, nurses and paramedical staff working in isolation wards have been given PPE and other protective gears. But how she contracted the virus is still not known to us, the KGH chief said.
Meanwhile, the remaining four cases were reported from Gopalapatnam, Chandakaveedhi near Jagadamba Junction and Chengalraopeta. With this, the number of total cases registered in Vizag rose to 29, with active cases being nine. The son and a grand-daughter of a 56-year-old infectee from Dandu Bazaar area, have also tested positive and are undergoing treatment in GITAM Hospital.
The son, a water purifier technician, reportedly had gone to some houses in HB Colony and Sujathanagar on work purpose. Also, an eight-member committee is expected to take a call on whether a 62-year-old Covid victim died of the virus or due to his kidney ailment Meanwhile, how a woman from Seetannagardens, who tested positive on Thursday, was infected was not clear yet. Her 66-year-old husband, a kidney patient, died while treatment on April 20. Five members of her family were sent to quarantine camps where they tested negative twice.