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Bengaluru doctor tests positive for COVID-19 in Shifaa Hospital

Shifaa Hospital in Bengaluru has been shut down after the doctor tested positive for coronavirus. This is the second case of a doctor contracting the infection in the state. 

Bengaluru doctor tests positive for COVID-19 in Shifaa Hospital
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Bengaluru, First Published Apr 12, 2020, 4:10 PM IST

Bengaluru: After the treating doctor of the first COVID-19 casualty in the country from Kalaburagi tested positive, Karnataka saw another treating doctor of a COVID-19 patient test positive in Bengaluru.

A 32-year-old doctor in Bengaluru tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. The doctor was working with Shifa Hospital, on Queens Road in Bengaluru and was a primary contact of a COVID-19 positive patient, whom he had earlier treated in the hospital’s flu ward. 

This is the first case of a medical professional testing positive in the city and Shifa Hospital will also be shut for a fortnight.

After treating a patient in the Out Patient Department (OPD) at the hospital four days ago, the doctor developed COVID-19 symptoms. The junior doctor and three other doctors rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD) for testing. 

The results obtained on Friday confirmed that the 32-year-old doctor was indeed COVID-19 positive, while the three others tested negative. This is the second case of a doctor testing positive in the state after the Kalaburagi incident.

“The hospital has to be closed down immediately for the next 15 days. We are making a list of the doctor’s primary contacts, including the hospital staff who have to be quarantined. The doctor's contacts include many patients, the doctor may have treated so far,” said Dr BK Vijendra, chief health officer, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

A report on Deccan Herald quoted Ravi Surpur, special commissioner, health, BBMP saying, "When you have a doctor testing positive for the infection, there is a possibility of other OPD patients and inmates testing positive for the same, that is the reason we are in the process of sealing the hospital. The owner of the hospital will close it down. We are consulting him. We cannot have more patients coming into the hospital as there is a possibility of the infection spreading to his colleagues." 

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