A young doctor in coronavirus-affected Kerala who had followed the rules and informed the health department about a patient who visited her with high fever has allegedly lost her job as the private clinic where she worked thought such exposure would affect its business.

“All I did was to do my duty as a doctor to first advise him to go to a government hospital. But when he refused, as he wanted to head to Doha, I reported to the health department. Today I am jobless,” Shinu Syamalan, a 2012 MBBS pass-out who was a full-time doctor at Rosh Clinic in Thalikulam, Thrissur, told The Telegraph on Tuesday.

Fourteen persons in Kerala are now under treatment for the coronavirus.

The government has instructed all doctors to report suspected cases to it immediately.

But the owner of the clinic, a diagnostic centre-cum-doctors’ chambers, and the district health department have varying versions of the incident.

Roshan, who owns the clinic, told local reporters: “I had only asked her to go on one month’s leave to get over this matter.” He did not deny having asked the doctor not to report the matter to the health department. Roshan did not take calls from this newspaper for a comment on the allegations.

The district health department has issued a statement saying that the man under the doctor’s lens had completed his 28-day quarantine period. Sources in the district medical officer’s office said they had earlier records of the patient, who had eventually tested negative.

But Dr Shinu, who had no information about the quarantine factor, said it was her duty to report any case of fever or other symptoms of coronavirus.

“My only concern was that he came to me with high fever, which had to be reported to the district health department due to the prevailing situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak. I am not even saying he is coronavirus positive,” the doctor, who had earlier worked in various government hospitals in Kerala, said.

“The patient came to me (on Sunday) without even a mask and said he had flown to Delhi and Agra over the past two weeks and was leaving for Doha on Monday. He wanted me to give him an injection to reduce the fever. But I told him that’s not a proper way to treat fever,” she said.

Dr Shinu noted down the patient’s home address before he left the place in a hurry. “I then called the reception and asked them to note down his vehicle number. They noted down the number of his motorbike.”

According to the doctor, the clinic’s proprietor was at the reception and allegedly tried to dissuade her from reporting the matter to health authorities.

Dr Shinu accused Roshan of being “selfish” since he didn’t want his business to be affected if the man tested positive for coronavirus and others began shunning the clinic.

“He is such a selfish person since he was only focused on his own business and not the welfare of the people,” Dr Shinu said.

But she went ahead and reported the case to the health department, which had promised action. “I thought they would stop him from flying. But when I finally traced the motorbike owner’s number with the help of the local panchayat president, the patient’s brother-in-law told me he had already left for Doha,” Dr Shinu said.

“All I wanted to do was get him tested for the virus and thus prevent the infection, if any, from spreading. But instead, I am the guilty one now,” Dr Shinu said.