The data on health-care workers in private hospitals who test positive for SARS-CoV-2 are not promptly made available in the public domain despite frequent instances of them getting infected with the virus, it is alleged.
Health Department sources claim that even though these institutions are supposed to intimate the surveillance cell about any suspected COVID-19 cases among their staff, at least some of them are delaying it. This assumes significance against the backdrop of the increasing number of health-care staff, many of them in non-COVID wards in government medical college hospitals across the State, contracting the infection in recent days. A large number of people depend on private hospitals for their medical needs and any delays in divulging information about them could be risky, it has been pointed out.
Scene in Kozhikode
As many as 18 staff in an orthopaedic hospital in Kozhikode tested positive for the virus last week.
There was confusion among the people about who among the visitors to the hospital should go in home quarantine as the cut-off date mentioned by the District Collector and the Health Department was apparently different. Eleven staff in a heart hospital in the city tested positive recently. It has been alleged that the hospital kept the information under wraps for some time. As people from other districts too visit this institution, there is concern among people. The staff in another private medical college hospital in Kozhikode too were infected.
Testing in own labs
A Health Department official said that some private hospitals were conducting tests on the body fluid samples of their staff at their own labs. Those labs may or may not have been recognised by the government for COVID-19 tests. Those who test positive are sent in quarantine and the information might not be communicated to the department for the fear of losing the institution’s reputation. The government is yet to reach a consensus on treating COVID-19 at private hospitals.
Hospitals’ stance
Hussain Koya Thangal, general secretary, Kerala Private Hospitals’ Association, said the details of staff testing positive for the virus and those who go in quarantine are being conveyed to the Health Department on time.
