Largest Hospital In North Delhi Sealed After Nurse Found COVID-19 +ve

Coronavirus: Delhi has so far reported 2,625 cases of COVID-19 (AFP)

The largest hospital in the national capital under the North Delhi Municipal Corporation has been sealed after a nurse was found infected with coronavirus, officials said on Saturday.

The coronavirus-infected nurse of Hindu Rao Hospital had been working at different sections of the building for the last two weeks, the officials said. The civic agency on its website says Hindu Rao Hospital is the largest hospital in north Delhi.

The hospital administration has decided to keep the building sealed until it is fully sanitized and everybody who could have come in contact with the nurse has been traced, the officials said.

"Late Saturday evening, a nurse on duty in Hindu Rao Hospital was found positive for COVID-19. Since she has been on duty in various locations on the campus over the last two weeks, we are closing down the hospital till we fully sanitize and complete contact tracing," North Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner Varsha Joshi said, according to news agency Press Trust of India.

A few patients are admitted in the gynaecology ward, and appropriate arrangements will be made for them, Ms Joshi said. "There appears to be definite negligence at some level here," she said. "We will have a thorough inquiry into this aspect," she added.

The civic agency on Saturday also issued new orders and standard operating procedures for its staff on how suspected coronavirus cases and quarantined people are to be handled and looked after, PTI reported.

Delhi has so far reported 2,625 cases of COVID-19. In the last 24 hours, 111 news cases and one death have been reported. The total number of deaths due to COVID-19 in the national capital is now 54.

Plasma therapy trials on four coronavirus patients in Delhi have produced encouraging results, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said earlier this week, adding after a few more trials, his government would seek permission from the centre to use the treatment on a large scale.

With inputs from PTI