MUMBAI: On Monday, the BMC declared Wockhardt Hospital in South Mumbai , a containment zone after over 40 nurses were found to be Covid-19 positive while they treated a Covid-19 infected patient in the hospital.Representatives of the nurses who are inside the hospital have alleged that the hospital did not take enough precautions while handling the infected patient, thereby putting the lives of the healthcare workers in the hospital at risk. Wockhardt's chairman Habil Khorakiwala said all protocols were followed.The Wockhardt incident has brought to light the precarious conditions in which healthcare workers, including nurses, must work during the pandemic. In a letter sent to several government authorities, the nurses have alleged that the hospital did not keep suspected Covid-19 patients in a separate isolation facility, leading to the infection to spread.A 70-year-old man who did not have symptoms of the disease and was admitted to the ICU, was the first one to get infected. He later spread the disease to nurses who attended him. The nurses in the general ICU ward, where suspected patients were admitted, were not provided Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) or even surgical masks.Those who enquired about PPEs were told the hospital had ordered it but it was yet to arrive.“Hospitals have been emerging as hot spots for Covid-19 in other parts on India as well. It is the duty of the hospital administration and management that staff members be pro-genvided PPE and ensure proper infection control protocol to safeguard patients, staff members, and the public at large,” said a statement from Jan Swasth Abhiyan, a not-forprofit organisation working on health rights.Habil Khorakiwala, chairman of the Wockhardt Hospitals, told ET that it had kept aside a 10-bed isolation facility for Covid-19 patients, but the infection spread from the non-Covid area. By the time the doctors discovered that the asymptomatic patient had turned positive, several days had already passed.“There is nothing we could’ve done differently or better. We are following a tight protocol in routine working.So, there is no negligence per say. And we did take all precautions from the beginning, and this kind of accident can happen anywhere in the world,” Habil Khorakiwala said.