A district administration report has affirmed that as many as 47 staffers including the senior officials have contracted Covid-19.
These infected persons include senior officials including Principal Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil who was later removed, Health Director J Vijay Kumar, Addl Director Kailash Bundela, Joint Director Upendra Dubey, Addl Director Dr Veena Sinha, Dy Directors Pramod Goyal, Dr Ruby Khan, Dr Saurabh Purohit, Dr Himanshu Jayaswar and Director Dr Ranjana Gupta.
Others who contracted infection included technical staff, computer operator, peons, a gunman and others. Some of the kin of these staffers too have contracted infection.
Taking cognisance of media reports and a tweet from Rajya Sabha member Vivek Tankha about top Health officials making a mockery of Covid-19 protocol after contracting infection, the MP Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) had served a notice to Chief Secretary Iqbal Singh Bains seeking details of positive Health staffer and details of their hospital admission, days ago.
The letter forwarded by district collector to MPHRC on April 10 claimed that all the 47 staffers after testing positive for covid19 were hospitalised and kept in isolation.
The staffers were in constant touch of the officials who tested positive, affirmed the report.
The district administration has clarified that all the prescribed guidelines were followed in treatment in these staffers and there is no proof of these officials being guilty of any negligence.
To add, there are close to 50 officials and 250 employees in Health directorate based at Satpura Bhawan in Bhopal.
It was widely alleged that Health officers after testing positive weren’t hospitalised immediately and it was only after an intervention from senior Government officials that they were shifted to hospitals from their isolations.
MPHRC PRO affirmed that the district administration reply was received at 8.47 pm on Friday and the commission was studying the information and would react to it in due time.