Doctor heading team in Goa’s lone Covid hospital returns home after 98 days

98 days after he took charge as the nodal doctor for treatment of patients at ESI, lone Covid Hospital in Goa, Dr Edwin Gomes was finally relieved and he returned home. He got a hero’s welcome from his neighbours and friends. @IndianExpress

Video Credit: Tanna Sachar pic.twitter.com/WxY2Yvu80r

— Smita Nair (@smitagnair) July 3, 2020

They have so far sent 153 patients home, having fully recovered and also ensured another 96 patients improved their parameters and had developed good immunities to be shifted to Covid Care Centres, before being sent home.

They have been replaced with a second team while they take a break. Dr Gomes is expected to return after three weeks — and also monitor cases where his attention is needed.

Dr Gomes being felicitated at his residential compound.

When asked about the things that he would now catch up on, Dr Gomes replied, “Playing music with my children, watching them eat their favourite food: waffles, phoning my other colleagues to find out how their day went in GMC and giving my wife a tight hug.”

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He added that he had also phoned and thanked his team members for their support. “I thanked my team members through Dr Nidhi for standing by me and building a beautiful ESI Covid-19 hospital family,” he said.

Dr Edwin Gomes and his core team treated patients at the hospital. In pic, people thank Dr Edwin Gomes.

According to the SOP worked out for treatment, Dr Gomes and his core team treated patients at the hospital and also helped in monitoring patients who were shifted to Covid Care Centres in the state.

Of the 1576 confirmed positive cases, Goa so far has 772 recovered cases. Goa’s active cases on Friday stood at 800 of which over 70 cases were being treated at the ESI hospital.

Dr Gomes is expected to return after three weeks to help in the state’s Covid response.

Earlier in April, Dr Gomes while speaking with The Indian Express had stressed upon the “effects of proximity and personal engagement while nursing infected patients, directly connecting the medical attitude of the caregivers in slowing or shifting the trajectory of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 or any such fast replicating virus”.

Gomes is expected to return after three weeks to help in the state’s Covid response.

Neighbours welcome ‘Covid warrior’ Dr Edwin Gomes.

So far, Gomes has been backed by countless number of nurses and a team of doctors led by Dr Ira Almeida who have been running the entire administration and executing finely drafted-SOPs for Covid care.