HOSPITAL FEARED TO BE 'CORONA HUB' AFTER DOCTOR HIDES A POSITIVE CASE OF COVID-19 IN ALIGARH

Aligarh’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) on Tuesday was accused of not having reported the coronavirus positive cases to the authorities. An associate professor from this college was suspended by the Vice-Chancellor after a patient tested positive on Monday. Since the associate professor admitted the person to a casualty ward instead of following protocols and admitting the patient in an isolation ward, the spread of the infection is now being feared.

BJP MLA Dalveer Singh raised this acquisition and called the hospital a “corona hub” as he claimed that the hospital became the hotspot for the spread of the virus. He said, “Not a single case of COVID-19 war reported in the city earlier, due to strict implementation of lockdown rules by the district administration. But JNMC doctors hid facts about coronavirus patients being treated in the hospital from the administration, and now it has become a hub.”

The patient had been allowed to be tested at a lab, even after showing flu like symptoms. Hence, the lab’s licence has also been cancelled and locked for the time being. Aligarh had previously reported only one positive case and that person had recovered. It was the only district in UP where no cases were reported until now.

However, the hospital authorities have taken a strong exception to the MLA’s “insinuating” statement and have accused him of putting them at risk in the hands of “ignorant lynch mobs.” Disturbed by these allegations, the doctors wrote to the District Magistrate saying, “They are working ‘round-the-clock at grave risk to their lives. These remarks have put us at a grave risk of lynching at the hands of ignorant elements who could vent their anger on doctors on the basis of the MLA’s insinuation, holding doctors responsible for this outbreak.”