Suspected Kerala COVID-19 patient escapes hospital, meets with accident

Thiruvananthapuram: It’s quite the case of a disaster waiting to happen. Two hospitals in South Kerala are on high alert after a road accident. A resident of Kollam, who is suspected of having coronavirus, and was quarantined, managed to give authorities the slip to go on a drive. He met with an accident and was transferred from Kollam General Hospital to Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. However, the hospital authorities were not informed that he was a coronavirus patient and had been quarantined.

At Thiruvananthapuram, he underwent a CT scan, and dental scan. Doctors also tried removing the accumulated fluids from his lungs. It was only then that the family revealed that he was a COVID-19 suspect

Following this, 40 people including doctors and paramedical staff in the two hospitals, one policeman, and an ambulance driver were quarantined.

The patient has been shifted to the ICU of the isolation ward and his samples have been sent for testing. “If the tests prove positive, all the 40 people who were exposed to the patient would have to undergo mandatory quarantine,” sources said.

Meanwhile, services at the premier Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences in Thiruvananthapuram were badly affected when a doctor who had returned from Spain after attending a course today tested positive for coronavirus. He had interacted with patients and other doctors.

Following this, the institute stopped all routine surgeries and service and sent the doctors and others to 14-day quarantine.