19 nurses, 6 other staff of Ruby Hall Clinic contract COVID-19

The test reports of 19 nurses and six other staff members, including clinical assistants, came out positive in Maharashtra's Pune. All of them are asymptomatic and stable, said hospital sources.

Pune: Nineteen nurses and six other paramedical staff members of the Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune have tested positive for coronavirus, authorities said on Tuesday.

All of them are currently asymptomatic and stable, Ruby Hall Clinic's Chief Executive Officer Bomi Bhote said.

Last week, a nurse working in the general ward of the leading private hospital here in Maharashtra tested positive for COVID-19.

The hospital subsequently screened 1,000 of its staff members.

"The test reports of 19 nurses and six other staff members, including clinical assistants, came out positive. All of them are asymptomatic and absolutely stable," Bhote said.

All the staff members who have tested positive for COVID-19 have been quarantined at an isolation facility and all their primary contacts have been traced and tested.

"As a precautionary measure, we have dedicated an entire building within the hospital only for potential COVID- 19 cases. Our collective, coordinated and comprehensive approach has ensured that not a single (non-coronavirus) patient in the hospital got infected," he added.

"This highlights that the virus lurks at large amidst us even without obvious visible symptoms. These persons have now been isolated from potential contacts to further break the chain of coronavirus spread," Bhote said.

PTI