Coronavirus scare: Aurangabad man, 64, quarantined at home

AURANGABAD: A 64-year-old city resident, who had complained of fever and chills, has been asked to stay at home in isolation for a couple of days owing to coronavirus scare in the city.
The man had visited a mediation camp in Igatpuri from February 12 to 23 where two people from the group of 500 were foreign nationals.
On March 5, the man experienced fever, chills and throat irritation, following which he was admitted to a private hospital.The man was discharged from the hospital on March 6 and was referred to the Chikalthana district civil hospital fearing Covid-19 infection.
An MD doctor at the hospital told the man that he did not require any treatment. According to the man’s family, the hospital authorities told him that he will be admitted for a night and that they will refer him to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) for further course of treatment the next day. However, the patient refused to get admitted and went home stating that he will go to the GMCH on Saturday.
When he visited the GMCH, the hospital authorities told him that they do not have the required mechanism to conduct diagnosis and screening and, therefore, he will have to go to the district civil hospital for the same.
Subsequently, the man’s family took him to the district civil hospital where civil surgeon Sundar Kulkarni examined him. District civil surgeon Sundar Kulkarni said that the patient is fine at the moment and is not showing any symptoms of coronavirus; however, he has been asked to stay at home in isolation for a few days.
Kulkarni told TOI that the man was sitting with him for two hours but did not cough or sneeze during the time. “He is fine but we have told him to stay isolated at home for a few days,” he said.
When asked, GMCH medical superintendent said that in a meeting held with the district collector, divisional commissioner and mayor, it was decided that the diagnosis and screening will be conducted at the civil hospital and GMCH will take care of the treatment post-diagnosis.