cities

Updated: Mar 30, 2020 00:08 IST

MUMBAI

The death of a 40-year-old woman, a resident of Kandivli, owing to Covid-19 in the intensive care unit (ICU) of King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital has left doctors and staff panicking. Not suspecting it to be a case of the coronavirus and in the absence of personal protective equipment (PPE), they handled the patient using HIV kits, which means they have been exposed to the Sars-CoV-2.

The woman, wife of a taxi driver, was suffering from chest pain for the past three-four days. When she was brought to KEM hospital, she had severe respiratory distress with breathlessness, according to health officers from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). Her husband said they hadn’t travelled anywhere, domestic or international, in the past 14 days. She was admitted to the ICU on Saturday morning, in the presence of other critically ill patients. Her condition deteriorated soon and she succumbed on Saturday night. As she had breathing problems, doctors sent her swab sample for test. But before they could get the report, they sent her body to the morgue without wrapping it in infection-proof cover, as per the guidelines of the Union Health Ministry. The doctors realized the woman was suffering from Covid-19 only after getting her swab test report, which came in too late. Five of them have now been asked to get home quarantined, until their samples come negative of the virus.

“She was first taken to the casualty ward where we examined her and then referred her to the ICU as her condition was extremely critical,” said a doctor, who attended to her and has now been home quarantined.

Using HIV PPE as preliminary protection is inadequate, said experts. “HIV PPE doesn’t have an N95 mask, which is compulsory to treat Covid-19 patients. Also, in this, only the front portion of the body gets covered to stop any possible penetration of the virus into the body. This is not suitable for coronavirus which is even more lethal than Ebola,” said Dr I S Gilada, consultant in HIV/STDs and president, AIDS Society of India (ASI).

The doctors also alleged that the hospital morgue hasn’t been disinfected despite repeated pleas. “In any outbreak of respiratory syndrome, it is always recommended to keep the body in plastic bags as the virus can be alive in the environment for hours. Now, we are all exposed and the hospital is not even ready to take our samples for a test,” said a senior doctor from the forensic department of the hospital.

Dr Hemant Deshmukh, dean of the hospital, said, “The patient was kept in an isolation ward in ICU, so there is no chance of infection spread among people. But we have asked a few medicos to get home quarantined and we will collect their samples after three-four days.”

The woman’s close contacts, including her 13-year-old son, were allowed to take part in her last rites. When asked about it, ward officer Sanjay Kunhade said, “We have identified six people who were in close contact with the patient. We will collect their samples after they are done with the last rites.”

Considering the husband is a taxi driver, the health officers are suspecting he was an asymptomatic patient. “It is quite possible that he is asymptomatic. So, we have to wait for the reports before commenting,” said Kunhade.