<p class="title">Corona warriors, working on the forefront of the battle against Covid-19, seem to be the new patient clusters in the city with more than 30 police personnel and 16 staffers at the 360-bedded KC General Hospital, Malleswaram being infected. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the 30-odd police personnel, four were working at the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) at the police commissioner’s office on Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Road, forcing city police chief Bhaskar Rao to seal his office for the next five days till July 14.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the case of KC General Hospital, what is surprising is that only two staffers are working in Covid wards. The other 14 are those working in the non-Covid wards. While the hospital has 100 Covid beds and 260 non-Covid beds, the outpatient footfall of the hospital is around 800<br />every day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With Victoria Hospital and Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital not seeing any non-Covid patients anymore, the burden is on government hospitals like KC General Hospital and Jayanagar General Hospital, says medical superintendent Dr B R Venkateshaiah.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) patients flood the hospital everyday as they have nowhere else to go. Private hospitals mostly refer SARI cases to government hospitals as they are awaiting Covid test reports. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Three doctors, 11 nursing officers, one blood bank technician, and one data entry operator have tested positive and only two of these nurses were working in Covid wards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“It is not during donning and doffing that our staffers are getting infected. The problem is with the hospital treating both Covid and non-Covid cases. The positivity rate among SARI and ILI cases is high. Up to 30% of such cases test positive. The health workers who are infected are doctors assisting in child birth, surgery, a person issuing OPD slips etc. We’re writing to the department that providing non-Covid services is putting our health workers at great risk,” Venkateshaiah said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The hospital says that even health workers in non-Covid areas wear PPEs but since non-Covid patients who might be potential carriers of the virus, roam about the hospital campus, it is putting the workers at risk. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, the police commissioner’s office premises was sanitised on Friday and only limited staff attached with in the police control room and dial 100 are working. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Besides the four from the police commissioner’s office, around 30 personnel from various police stations like Srirampuram, Kumarswamy Layout, Upparpet, Vyalikaval, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kengeri, Peenya, Halasurgate, Hulimavu, North City Armed Reserve (CAR), Malleswaram, Viveknagar, DJ Halli, Rajajinagar, Ashok Nagar, KSRP, KG Halli, Konanakunte, Channamanakere Achukattu police stations have tested positive. All stations are sanitised and sealed down. </p>
<p class="title">Corona warriors, working on the forefront of the battle against Covid-19, seem to be the new patient clusters in the city with more than 30 police personnel and 16 staffers at the 360-bedded KC General Hospital, Malleswaram being infected. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Among the 30-odd police personnel, four were working at the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB) at the police commissioner’s office on Bhagwan Mahaveer Jain Road, forcing city police chief Bhaskar Rao to seal his office for the next five days till July 14.</p>.<p class="bodytext">In the case of KC General Hospital, what is surprising is that only two staffers are working in Covid wards. The other 14 are those working in the non-Covid wards. While the hospital has 100 Covid beds and 260 non-Covid beds, the outpatient footfall of the hospital is around 800<br />every day.</p>.<p class="bodytext">With Victoria Hospital and Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital not seeing any non-Covid patients anymore, the burden is on government hospitals like KC General Hospital and Jayanagar General Hospital, says medical superintendent Dr B R Venkateshaiah.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Severe acute respiratory illness (SARI) patients flood the hospital everyday as they have nowhere else to go. Private hospitals mostly refer SARI cases to government hospitals as they are awaiting Covid test reports. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Three doctors, 11 nursing officers, one blood bank technician, and one data entry operator have tested positive and only two of these nurses were working in Covid wards.</p>.<p class="bodytext">“It is not during donning and doffing that our staffers are getting infected. The problem is with the hospital treating both Covid and non-Covid cases. The positivity rate among SARI and ILI cases is high. Up to 30% of such cases test positive. The health workers who are infected are doctors assisting in child birth, surgery, a person issuing OPD slips etc. We’re writing to the department that providing non-Covid services is putting our health workers at great risk,” Venkateshaiah said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The hospital says that even health workers in non-Covid areas wear PPEs but since non-Covid patients who might be potential carriers of the virus, roam about the hospital campus, it is putting the workers at risk. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Meanwhile, the police commissioner’s office premises was sanitised on Friday and only limited staff attached with in the police control room and dial 100 are working. </p>.<p class="bodytext">Besides the four from the police commissioner’s office, around 30 personnel from various police stations like Srirampuram, Kumarswamy Layout, Upparpet, Vyalikaval, Rajarajeshwarinagar, Kengeri, Peenya, Halasurgate, Hulimavu, North City Armed Reserve (CAR), Malleswaram, Viveknagar, DJ Halli, Rajajinagar, Ashok Nagar, KSRP, KG Halli, Konanakunte, Channamanakere Achukattu police stations have tested positive. All stations are sanitised and sealed down. </p>
