Omicron-infected doctor to be discharged on December 6, if tests negative

The Omicron-infected doctor will be discharged on Monday if his RT-PCR test result returns negative.

The doctor, who tested positive for Covid-19 on November 22, spent three days in home isolation and three days in a private hospital before getting discharged on November 27. However, he was taken to Bowring Hospital on December 2, after the genome sequencing results showed that he was infected with the Omicron
variant.

“An RT-PCR test will be done tomorrow (Monday). If he tests negative, he will be discharged,” said a senior official in Bowring, the designated hospital for the Omicron patients.

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Meanwhile, the doctor who is waiting to undergo the test said the virus might have mutated in the state itself and advocated for more testing. “Henceforth, if we regularly test, definitely we can be more aware of this variant,” he told reporters at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital on Saturday.

Clueless about source

The doctor, an anaesthetist at a government hospital, said he had no travel history as all his commute was between home and the hospital where he worked. “That’s all. I used to avoid going outside as much as possible,” he said.

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He said he was clueless on how he got infected with the Omicron variant. “My friends and colleagues were surprised that I got infected despite taking so much precaution. I want to say this again: I don’t know from where I contracted Omicron,” he said.

Medical conference

He also spoke about the much-hyped medical conference that he had attended on November 20, a day before he developed symptoms. “On November 20, I went for a medical conference in a hotel but I was late. I reached the venue at 9.30 pm and by 10.30 pm, I left. That’s just one hour. I don’t know how the incubation period can be just 24 hours: from Saturday to Sunday. Any virus takes three to four days to incubate after entering the body. But this is a new variant and I don’t have much information,” he
explained.

His treating physician Dr Madhumathi R, Professor of Medicine at Bowring, said, “He had already taken monoclonal antibody therapy before coming to Bowring. If it is taken within five days of exposure, it is definitely beneficial. Usually, we use the therapy for risk factors but professionals like doctors take it because they’re at more risk. As a result, the progression of the disease in him is not severe. He came to our hospital only on the eighth day and the disease severity hasn’t progressed.”

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