ANANTAPUR: With the spread of coronavirus, more and more frontline workers are prone to contract it.
It is evident with two more staff of the Government General Hospital, including an Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM), contracted coronavirus, prompting the GGH authorities to shift 26 other staff, including doctors and house surgeons, to a quarantine centre.
The fresh Covid-19 positive cases among the medical staff took the total affected to eight in Anantapur GGH.
Meanwhile, a sub-inspector of police in Krishna district has also tested positive for coronavirus. Four doctors and four staff nurses/ANMs and two security staff working at Anantapur GGH have tested positive for coronavirus so far.
Of them, a doctor and a staff nurse were discharged from hospital after their recovery.
The spread of the virus among the medical staff is suspected to have started when they treated a patient from Hindupur, who got admitted to the hospital and died on April 4, and another patient from Kalyandurg, who died on April 7.
The samples taken from them turned positive after their death. After the samples of the two persons tested positive, the medical staff were tested immediately. Initially, a 30-year-old resident doctor, a 24-year-old house surgeon and two staff had tested positive on April 8.
Subsequently, two more doctors and a staff nurse tested positive.
On April 19, a security staffer working at the GGH too contracted the virus, officials said. In the recent tests, one ANM and a security staffer too tested positive for the virus. With this, the officials have sent at least 26 doctors and other staff to quarantine centre.
GGH Superintendent Dr Ramaswamy Naik said that they have sent 26 staff, including doctors, PG students and staff nurses to quarantine late Thursday night and Friday morning.
Those who were shifted to quarantine centre, include 10 house surgeons, six doctors, four PG students and six staff nurses. In Krishna district, a sub-inspector working in Vijayawada Police Commissionerate tested positive for coronavirus.
According to officials, the SI was posted at Ranigari Thota, which was declared a red zone. After which, he showed symptoms of the virus.
Upon testing, he had tested positive for coronavirus. The SI was staying in a room along with another SI and two constables and all the three were quarantined.
Responding to the frontline staff getting contracted with coronavirus, Special Chief Secretary (Medical and Health) KS Jawahar Reddy said there are several instances of doctors, paramedical staff, revenue officials and police personnel contracting the virus.
“We are fighting a war. Some people will get affected,” he said, adding that the details of the affected frontline workers will be revealed on Saturday.