Resident doctors of AIIMS have earlier complained about the protective gear provided.
Highlights
- Among the infected doctors, two are faculty members, rest are residents
- Three of the healthcare workers died after contracting coronavirus
- Some police personnel posted at AIIMS had to be quarantined
More than 480 health workers in Delhi's prestigious AIIMS hospital have tested positive for coronavirus, sources said. The figure includes 19 doctors and 38 nurses. Among the infected doctors, two are faculty members and the rest are residents. Apart from this, 74 security staff, 75 hospital attendants, 54 sanitation staff and 14 laboratory technicians and OT staff have been infected.
Three of the healthcare workers died after contracting coronavirus, among them was the head of the hospital's sanitation staff. A mess worker at the hospital has also died after contracting the virus, prompting allegations from the Resident Doctors' Association that the precautionary measures it demanded weeks ago, had not been taken.
For over the last three days, the hospital's nurses' union have been holding protests over the working conditions. Their complaints included the PPE kits supplied by the authorities, which they say are sub-standard.
Some police personnel posted at AIIMS, had to be quarantined after a policeman tested positive in April.
Doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in the national capital -- which has the third highest number of coronavirus cases in the country -- have been particularly vulnerable to the disease.
In March, for the first time in history, AIIMS had shut its out-patient department to curb the spread of the virus. The hospital's Trauma Centre has been converted into a dedicated COVID-19 facility as the infection started spreading in Delhi.
In April, hospitals like Hindu Rao, Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital and Delhi Cancer Institute had to be sealed after doctors and nursing staff there tested positive for coronavirus.
Currently Delhi has more than 23,000 cases of coronavirus. The city has been adding a daily average of nearly 1,200 cases over the last seven days. The number of containment areas is still huge. The sprawling city has more than 120 containment zones.