Abid Bashir
Srinagar (NVI): A junior resident doctor posted at Government Medical College (GMC) Baramulla in north Kashmir was tested positive for COVID-19 today. He is the first doctor in Kashmir who has tested positive for the deadly disease.
An official told NVI that a junior doctor posted at GMC Baramulla was tested positive after he came in contact with a positive patient. He said that all his contacts have been traced and they have been also put under quarantine.
Medical Superintendent, GMC Baramulla, Dr. Syed Masood Bukhari also confirmed that a junior resident doctor has been tested positive. He said that around 18 contacts of the doctor have been put under quarantine at GMC Baramulla. “The doctor has also been kept under isolation at GMC,” he added.
Sources said that a massive contact tracing exercise was launched and all the people who had come in contact with the doctor have been identified and traced. “All his contacts are being put under quarantine. The doctor who tested positive was on the frontline of serving the patients including those with symptoms of virus,” they said.
A massive decontamination drive was launched at GMC Baramulla and all wards and rooms have been sanitized, they said.
A doctor posted at GMC Baramulla, however, said that panic gripped the entire hospital as the news of junior resident doctor testing positive came in. “Doctors are frontline Covid-19 warriors and they have every chance to get infected. This (infections to doctors) has to stop here, otherwise, no doctor would be present in the hospitals to look after Covid patients,” he said, requesting anonymity.
The doctor also sought people’s cooperation and urged them to maintain proper distancing at hospitals.
