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Ludhiana doctors, paramedics stage protest over substandard masks as Covid-19 spreads through their ranks
So far, one former doctor and four ward attendants have contracted Covid-19
A day after two more civil hospital employees tested positive for Covid-19, doctors and paramedical staff staged a protest against the substandard face masks being provided to them.
The doctors had earlier raised the issue of poor quality PPE (personal protective equipment) kits.
The health staff alleged that the N95 mask was of substandard quality, which provided them with no protection.
The protesting employees refused to join duty until they were provided good quality masks and PPE kits.
So far, one former doctor and four ward attendants have contracted Covid-19.
As many as 22 people tested positive for the disease on Monday.
They include two accused of sodomy and rape, respectively; six under trials lodged in Borstal jail; two civil hospital employees; two Railway Protection Force (RPF) employees; one contact of a patient found positive at a flu corner and five other cases from different parts of the district.
NURSES DEMAND PAY RAISE
Meanwhile, 15 contractual nurses working at the isolation centre and flu corner of the civil hospital staged a protest and demanded a salary hike.
They accused the authorities of not testing them for Covid-19. The protesting nurses said that they had come in contact with infected ward attendants and patients who could be asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers.
CIVIL SURGEON HOLDS MEET TO DISCUSS ISSUE, FORMS PANEL
Civil surgeon Dr Rajesh Kumar Bagga said after the doctors and para-medical staff of the civil hospital held a protest over the quality of masks, a meeting was held to discuss the issue.
Dr Bagga said the protective gear was being supplied at the state-level and the PPE kits were approved by South India Textile Research Association (SITRA) and N95 masks by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
He said the doctors and paramedical staff the masks should not have side respirator valves and strings of the N95 masks should be adjustable. He added that a panel will check the quality of such products thoroughly in future.
YAD DEMANDS PROBE
Backing the protesting doctors, the Youth Akali Dal (YAD) district president Gurdeep Singh Gosha, demanded a probe in the matter.
He said the government should take action against the supplier of PPE kits and masks and initiate high-level probe to find out the role of companies and officials.
