Retest negative cases if Covid-19 suspected, PGIMER tells docs

After a patient with negative status retested positive for Covid-19 at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) , doctors have been asked to retest all cases suspected to be reinfected.

On June 16 as many as 32 healthcare workers were quarantined after they were exposed to Covid-19 positive patients admitted at the institute.

Dr Jagat Ram, director PGIMER, said necessary measures for the safety of the healthcare professionals had been taken.

“A negative report in the past would be sufficient to admit the patient and doctors (treating them). However, now we have asked the doctors to go for a repeat test based on the symptoms and suspicion. Hopefully, it will help us maintain low level of infection spread among the frontline workers,” Dr Jagat Ram added.

An official statement from PGIMER had said that a 42-year-old woman from Kapurthala in Punjab had been brought to the hospital in a critical condition and complaining of breathlessness on June 12. As she had a negative Covid-19 test report she was admitted to the intensive care unit for treatment.

However, to verify her condition, the patient was retested at the hospital on June 14 and found to be positive in pool testing. A repeat individual test again came out positive on June 15.

This led examination of 70 PGIMER staff and accordingly 17 doctors, 11 nursing officers, two operation theatre technicians and two hospital cleaners were quarantined.

All high-risk contacts are quarantined for 14 days from the last day of exposure and will be tested between the seventh and 10th day of quarantine.