46 staff of medical college quarantined in Aligarh

Forty-six staff members of a medical college attached to Aligarh Muslim University have been quarantined after they came in contact with a Coronavirus patient on Tuesday.

The authorities at the AMU-affiliated Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College have suspended a doctor for negligence after he allegedly referred the patient to the emergency wing of its hospital instead of the isolation facility.

The patient died on Tuesday. The district authorities have also served a notice on the institution to explain the lapse.

The license of a diagnostic centre where the patient got his X-ray done three days ago on the recommendation of a private doctor who was treating him for chest-related problems, has also been cancelled.

Chief superintendent of the AMU hospital Prof Shahid Siddiqui said the staff members, including eight doctors, had 'inadvertently' come in contact with the patient, who was brought there on Monday in a serious condition.

The man was referred to the hospital's emergency department by Dr Anjum Chugtai after preliminary examination, for which he has been suspended for negligence, as per a medical college notification.

The doctor, along with his entire family, has been quarantined.

District magistrate Chandra Bhushan Singh said they have sent a notice to the medical college hospital to explain how the patient landed at the emergency wing instead of the isolation facility when he had definite Corona symptoms.

The hospital authorities have also been asked to explain why the matter was not immediately brought to the notice of the district administration when the patient was admitted.

The district magistrate said the license of Mittal Diagnostics has been cancelled for not informing the district authorities about the X-ray report of the patient.