54 Apollo staff on quarantine after doctor who visited her Covid-19 uncle also gets infected

Evercare Hospital, formerly Apollo Dhaka, sent 54 employees, including the chief executive officer, the general manager and other top officials, into home quarantine after a doctor tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday.

The female doctor came into contact with a coronavirus patient, her relative, before she tested positive for the disease. She was apparently asymptomatic.

Many employees alleged that the doctor roamed around her workplace and went about her daily routine, which created troubles at the hospital. But the management of the hospital and the doctor herself insist that she came back to work after quarantine and later tested positive.

The concern over the safety protocol came at a time when people should strictly follow the rules of quarantine after visiting any coronavirus patient or a suspect.

The doctor visited a director of the Anti-Corruption Commission before he died on Monday in intensive care at Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital. After the death of the ACC director, the government's disease control agency decided to test the doctor's family members who had come into contact with the deceased.  

The doctor's test result was bad news, particularly for the hospital's Chief Executive Officer Ratnadeep Chaskar, who also had to go into quarantine. He advised all people who came into contact with the infected doctor to "go for home isolation" citing a directive from the board.

Later, the hospital employees were asked to come to the hospital on Thursday to get tested.

Many of them were reluctant to come fearing a further spread of the virus on their journey from home by a transport but they had to comply with the order.

Dr Arif Mahmud, spokesman for Evercare Hospital, said 54 employees, including doctors, nurses and managers were quarantined at home. Samples were collected from them to be sent to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research.

"We are in contact with the IEDCR. Samples will be sent today. We are strictly following the rules," he said.  

Dr Arif also gave a version confirming the doctor's home quarantine. But specifics of quarantine contradict the details shared by other employees privately.

Some employees privately shared grievances over the doctor's alleged disregard for safety protocol during the coronavirus outbreak and the subsequent handling of the matter by the hospital's management.

Doctor's version

"I was unaware that I could be a virus spreader," the doctor said, asking not to be named.  

She met her uncle suffering from fever on March 24 and four days later he tested positive for the coronavirus while undergoing treatment at Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital.

The IEDCR advised her to stay in quarantine until April 6. So, when she was cleared of the restriction on movement, she joined her work at Evercare Hospital. That day her uncle died.

There was no sign that could raise suspicion of her carrying the virus but the relative's death prompted the IEDCR to test all family members who had come into contact with the deceased.

The result of her being positive was surprising but that led to her being isolated immediately.