Cook at AIIMS hostel dies of Covid, resident doctors protest DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

Cook at AIIMS hostel dies of Covid, resident doctors protest

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:  23.05.2020

A 54-year-old man working in the mess of an AIIMS hostel has become the latest casualty of Covid-19.

He was on the job, cooking food for the resident doctors, when the mess worker (name withheld) complained about breathing difficulty. “Within minutes, his condition deteriorated and the man went into acute respiratory distress. We put him on ventilator support immediately and administered necessary medications but despite all efforts the he could not be saved,” a doctor said.

The deceased had all symptoms of Covid-19, therefore his swab samples were sent for testing. It was confirmed that he was Covid-19 positive, sources said.

The resident doctors at the hospital observed peace and lit candles on Friday evening in memory of the deceased, a resident of Orissa. “He used to stay at the RP Centre hostel, which is located within the hospital campus,” doctors said.

All contacts of the deceased, including doctors who attended to him and his colleagues in the mess, may require to observe home quarantine, they added.

According to AIIMS Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA), they have written to the administration in the past for regular screening and other safety measures like provision of thermal scanner, sanitiser and masks etc for the mess workers. “These demands have fallen on deaf ears and hence the fatal outcome,” the RDA has alleged, in a letter to the institute director.

The resident doctors demanded resignation of the hostel superintendent and the senior warden over the issue. “We also demand testing of all mess workers and residents by diligent contact tracing to ensure such incidence are not repeated,” the RDA said, adding further that compensation should be provided to the grieving family because the mess worker was serving the doctors during the pandemic. Some of the hospital doctors are also demanding that the state should step-in to provide due compensation.

AIIMS did not comment on the demands. Sources said the deceased was working under a private vendor hired to run the hostel mess.

Earlier, more than 30 security guards working at AIIMS had tested positive for Covid-19.