COVID-19: Bhilwara, Rajasthan's Emerging Hotspot

Jaipur: The first Coronavirus death was reported on Thursday from Bhilwara, a town where a number of healthcare professionals are said to have got infected. State government officials monitoring the status of COVID-19 spread in Rajasthan are reportedly concerned about Bhilwara turning into a hotspot in Rajasthan.

Media reports stated that the COVID-19 transmission in Bhilwara began with a patient admitted to Brijesh Bangar Memorial Hospital. Doctors who got infected with Coronavirus are reported to have treated hundreds of patients before their test results showed positive.

The patient in question visited the BBM Hospital in the first week of March and is said to have been referred to a hospital in Ahmedabad when his heart-related condition did not show much improvement.

After returning to Bhilwara, the patient reported at BBM Hospital again and was sent home, following which he went to a government clinic near his village and was referred to the Government MG Hospital in the textile town where his blood samples were sent for testing. They were returned showing positive sending the State government officials into a contact-tracing mode. The patient is reported to have interacted with over 100 people. Officials expect to see more cases emerging out of rural Bhilwara even as they are on the job of tracing all the contacts of the patient in question.

Of more than 40 cases in Rajasthan, 20 cases are said to have been reported from Bhilwara alone. 15 staff members of BBM hospital including doctors, nurses and others, are now reportedly undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Bhilwara.

The textile town with a population of 400,000 has been described as the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak in Rajasthan. The Centre has also been keeping a close watch on Bhilwara and state government officials said that they were combating the outbreak on a war-footing.