Cuttack: Acharya Harihar Post Graduate Institute of Cancer in Cuttack has been in news for the past few days for the rising number of COVID-19 cases being reported from the facility.
Saturday saw 38 more attendants and patients testing positive for the virus. While being shifted to COVID0-19, the patients created a ruckus and threatened to infect hospital staffers and COVID warriors by touching them.
Alleging that they contracted the virus due to the mismanagement by the authorities of the cancer facility, they refused to leave the hospital. The video of the incident has gone viral on various social media platforms.
They relented after police and hospital authorities intervened and were subsequently shifted to hospitals dedicated for treatment of coronavirus patients.
On the allegations of mismanagement at the cancer hospital, Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani said that the matter was being investigated and appropriate action would be taken if any lapses were found.
The first COVID-19 case in the cancer hospital was detected on June 24 when a patient from Ganjam district admitted to the hospital on June 19 tested positive for the virus. Later, two nurses, who had come in contact with him, were found infected.
On July 29, four patients, one attendant and a staffer of an Aahaar centre on the hospital premises tested positive. A day later, two more nurses were found to have contracted the virus.
On Thursday, 55 persons including 18 cancer patients, 36 attendants and a staff nurse of the hospital tested positive for the virus.
