Parents of a toddler, who tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, fled Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) with their child in an autorickshaw on Tuesday morning, but were held later at Gomoh, about 130km from here.

“We got a phone call from RIMS in the morning that parents of a Covid-19 positive child have fled the hospital with the patient,” said officer in charge of Bariatu police station Sapan Mahtha. “We sent out an alert to the concerned police stations and the trio was later held at Gomoh in Dhanbad district with the help of mobile phone tracking,” he added.

The one-and-a-half-year-old child, originally from Dhanbad, was brought to RIMS due to a urinary infection, doctors from the hospital said. He was shifted to the isolation ward here after testing positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, they added.

“We informed the concerned authorities as soon as our doctors learnt that the child was missing from the isolation ward,” said RIMS Director D.K. Singh.

The incident triggered panic among attendants and hospital staff at RIMS – the largest state-run health facility in Jharkhand. While police managed to catch the trio, the autorickshaw driver who helped them flee had not been tracked till the time of filing this report.

Officials from Dhanbad district administration told media persons that the child and his parents have been sent to PMCH (in Dhanbad) from Gomoh where the child will undergo treatment and his parents will be tested for Covid-19.

Ranchi sub divisional officer Lokesh Mishra said that a fresh contact tracing exercise will be undertaken in the case and any person who came in contact with the child will be quarantined.

Several incidents of Covid suspects fleeing quarantine centres have been reported in Jharkhand in the past couple of months. However, in this case, parents of the infected child took the step fearing that their child might not be treated well in an isolation ward and may contract more infections, sources from RIMS said.