Heema Hospital closes down services from 17 September
Staff Reporter
ITANAGAR, Sep 16: The rate of Covid-19 infection among the health care workers in the state capital has been increasing in an alarming rate, with 84 health care workers from private and government-run hospitals of the capital region reported to have tested positive for Covid-19 within this month alone.
Due to the nature of their work, health workers are more vulnerable to Covid-19 infection.
Recently, one health care worker of the RK Mission Hospital (RKMH), Salmi Sangdigoria had succumbed to Covid-19 after she contracted the infection while on duty.
Also, within this current month, hospitals in the capital region have been compelled to close down services after health staffers working there tested positive for Covid-19 infection.
Earlier, on 12 September, the RKMH here had also closed down all its services for a week from 14 to 20 September after 25 of its health care workers were detected positive for Covid-19.
Of the 25 staffers, three were doctors.
Moreover, Heema Hospital authorities here on Wednesday announced to suspend its services for six days starting 17 September after 23 (Earlier 20) of the hospital’s health care workers tested positive for Covid-19.
Heema Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr Kessang Thongdok informed that the hospital is compelled to close down its services, including OT and emergency services from 17 to 22 September.
Dr Thongdok informed that the hospital’s sanitary staff, pharmacists, drivers and nurses have tested Covid-19 positive.
“We need to break the chain of transmission to ensure that our patients do not face the danger of contracting the virus. Within this period, we will be conducting re-testing of all our staff and sanitizing the hospital. We will resume our services from 23 September onwards,” he said.
Meanwhile, official reports from the Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences (TRIHMS), Naharlagun authorities stated that till Wednesday, 35 of its health staffers have been detected positive for Covid-19.
The 35 health staffs include doctors, nurses, attendants, lab technicians, data entry operators and others.
The TRIHMS authority informed that daily testing of health care workers is done depending on the nature of exposure to the infection.
Speaking to this daily, TRIHMS Director Dr Moji Jini informed that most of the health staffers contract the infection while on duty when they are attending to the patients.
“Right now it is very difficult to know who is infected and who is not, so the number of Covid-19 cases is going to increase in the coming days,” he added.
The TRIHMS Director further said that the hospital authority is facing a shortage of staff since they are running two hospitals simultaneously. He stated that the hospital needs more nurses to take care of the growing number of patients.
Earlier, on 8 July, the TRIHMS authorities had also shut down its services for two days after a health worker was found Covid-19 positive.
