Delhi: The hospital building's OPD, offices and labs were shut last week (Representational)
Highlights
- Total cases linked to Delhi State Cancer Institute is 18
- 45 hospital staff quarantined so far
- Institute closed down after doctor tested positive last week
Another doctor and 11 nurses of a government-run cancer hospital in Delhi have tested positive for coronavirus. The medical centre was closed down last week after a doctor had contracted the disease; later, six nurses were also found to have the infection. The total of cases linked to the hospital is now 18.
According to sources, samples of 19 patients at the hospital - Delhi State Cancer Institute - have also been sent for coronavirus tests.
The hospital building's OPD, offices and labs were shut last week after the discovery of a coronavirus patient, who worked at the hospital as a doctor. His family had reportedly returned from abroad last month, sources say, adding he might have contracted the disease from them.
"It is suspected that the doctor caught the infection from her brother and sister-in-law who had just returned from the UK. She had visited their house recently," Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain had said last week.
His fellow doctors and the nurses could be part of the chain infection, sources say.
45 hospital staff have been quarantined. The hospital administration is reportedly investigating how the infection spread so quickly among its staff.
A doctor couple who worked in Delhi government-run Mohalla clinics had earlier tested positive for coronavirus. They are believed to have been infected by a patient who had returned from Saudi Arabia.
The number of coronavirus cases in the national capital rose by 30 to 532 on Monday; 7 people have died. 111 people have died across India.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday said his government is planning large-scale testing for coronavirus so that infected people are identified and isolated.