Nineteen doctors at the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) are been suspected of contracting COVID-19 during the treatment of a heart patient, who had been admitted in the hospital’s ICU for 2 days and then later tested positive for the coronavirus.

A resident doctor at NIMS said that the patient was admitted to NIMS in the last week of May and after he was tested positive for COVID-19, he was transferred to Gandhi hospital. As the doctors and nurses were not given PPE kits in the ICU in the initial phase of this pandemic, it is possible that one of the resident doctors might have contracted the virus. At present, it is mandatory for all the staff to wear PPE in the ICU.

However, similar situation continues at all non-COVID hospitals, such as Petlaburj Maternity Hospital and Osmania Medical College (OMC). The Telangana Junior Doctors Association said that at OMC, many students work in various government hospitals, out of them 32 PG students were tested positive on Friday.

A healthcare staffer at NIMS said that several healthcare staffs considered that by being in a non-COVID hospital, both the staff and the administration workers lowered their safety guard, which might have led to this situation. They were not given the HCQ drug which should have started with the dose in May as the OPD were suppose to reopen. They wore masks and gloves, and were following physical distance from patients, however contracted the virus.

Another junior doctor from Niloufer Hospital said that the HCQ drug course is for seven weeks. In the hospital, almost 60 per cent of the PG doctors had completed the dose, but the rest of the staff did not take it because of the confusion regarding its efficacy. Again, WHO is recommending it and people are taking it.

Moreover, only staffs in emergency wards are given PPE kits, apart from those staffs of isolation wards for COVID-19 suspected cases. Staffs in the ward and on OPD duty don’t get PPE or high-grade masks while on duty. Besides, all staffs gather to eat and rest in the same cafeteria or rest-rooms which have become a common infection point.

In the meantime, doctors’ associations have demanded that a proper plan has to be put forth to rehabilitate staff infected by the virus. Dr Lalu Prasad Rathor, president of the Telangana Government Doctor Association asked that in USA, they have much better healthcare infrastructure and less population density but the medical professionals are still contracting COVID-19. So, how do they expect medical professionals in India won’t get affected? Also, they are using lower-grade PPE and dealing with a much higher case load.

He also said that many doctors and staff who had contracted COVID-19 are elderly and might not recover; therefore the government should assure them a compensation package. Until now, 32 healthcare staffs are tested positive in OMC affiliated colleges and 19 staffs at NIMS.

Source: The New Indian Express