More than 700 people have tested positive for coronavirus across country. (Representational)
The Odisha government on Friday asked people to refrain from visiting a private hospital in Bhubanewar and directed it to isolate all its staff, including doctors, who came in contact with a patient after he was found to be COVID-19 positive.
The 60-year-old man, who was detected as Odisha's third COVID-19 patient on Thursday night, does not have overseas travel history and he had come here by a flight from New Delhi on March 10, a senior official said.
The man had gone to Delhi on March 7 and during his stay there, he had also visited Rewari in Haryana, the state governments chief spokesperson on COVID-19, Subroto Bagchi, said.
He returned to Bhubaneswar on a flight along with his wife and daughter, he said.
On March 13, he became unwell and on March 16 he went to Assembly dispensary and subsequently visited the private hospitals OPD on March 21, Bagchi said, adding that on March 23 he was admitted to the ICU of the hospital with pneumonia and discharged on March 24.
On the same day he went to the Capital Hospital was admitted there on March 25.
His sample was sent for testing and it came back as positive for coronavirus on the night of March 26, Mr Bagchi said.
A senior official of the Health and Family Welfare department said that the management of the hospital has been asked to take all possible measures --isolate the doctors, nurses and all those who had attended the patient.
A massive exercise is in progress to identify the people who had met him and come in contact with him, Mr Bagchi said, adding that all those people must remain in isolation.
The Health and Family Welfare Department will soon send fresh guidelines to all doctors, clinics and hospitals which must be strictly followed, he said.
The department also expressed its displeasure over how the private clinic handled the sensitive case.
In spite of repeated advisory, some private healthcare facilities are not complying with the COVID-19 Regulations.
Government urges them to act responsibly and follow the Regulations while treating patients with flu-like symptoms. Non-compliance shall be viewed seriously, it in a tweet.
Official sources said at least 10 teams are now engaged to trace all those who might have come in contact with the third COVID-19 patient, a resident of Bhubaneswar.
They have been instructed to find out all the people who came in contact with the man, who tested positive after 17 days of initial symptoms.
They said the second COVID-19 positive case, a 19- year-old man, who returned from London, had come in contact with at least 55 persons.
In the latest case, the man had not been to any foreign country, but likely to have been infected during his visit to Delhi or on the way back to Bhubaneswar.
Therefore, the number of contacts of the third patient could be much more, an official said.
Stating that the state is passing through a very sensitive period, Mr Bagchi said the state government has already made it clear that the more than 78,000 migrant workers who returned from other states, badly hit by COVID-19, must be placed under isolation for 14 days.
Referring to the latest case, he said, people ought to observe maximum precautions and act responsibly to prevent the deadly disease from becoming an epidemic in the state.
"If you have travelled by the same flight, went to the same clinic or have been to the Assembly dispensary, then get yourself quarantined and contact helpline number 104," he said.
We all should cooperate with the government and others, he added.