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These front-line medics are staying away from home to keep Covid-19 at bay
Dr Lokesh Lalwani of pulmonary medicine department was grief-stricken after he received the news of his father’s demise on March 31. However, he continued treating a critical coronavirus patient at the hospital’s isolation ward.
At Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) here, treating Covid-19 patients is the top priority of the medical workforce, even if it means keeping away from family and personal commitments.
Dr Lokesh Lalwani of pulmonary medicine department was grief-stricken after he received the news of his father’s demise on March 31. However, he continued treating a critical coronavirus patient at the hospital’s isolation ward.
“As soon as I got to know about this, I asked Lokesh to rush home for his father’s cremation. Though he denied to leave at first, we later arranged his travel and forced him to go,” said Dr Dhruva Chaudhary, nodal officer for Covid-19 at PGIMS.
When asked about taking precautions around family, the nodal officer said he makes sure to take off his shoes before entering the house. “I have been maintaining distance with my family members. Even they keep reminding me to take care while treating patients,” Chaudhary added.
Chaudhary has been assigning duties to doctors and nurses on a rotational basis. He said while most doctors are getting weekly offs, they prefer to remain on the campus as they don’t want to take any chances with the health of their own kin.
Anshul Singroha, a staff nurse who does 12-hour shifts at the isolation ward, said she has not met her children for the past many days. “I am prioritising my duty, but it is difficult for a mother to remain away from her children and family for too long,” Anshul said.
Another health worker Rajesh Khatana has been working continuously and not been home since February 1. “If a soldier can patrol near the border, I can also perform my duty at the isolation ward,” he added.
PGIMS superintendent nurse Ishwanti Malik said, “Over 700 nurses are combating coronavirus every day. But we are allotting duties to five nurses in a week, following which they are quarantined for 14 days,” she added.
Malik said her engineer son was stuck in Delhi and daughter and son-in-law were stranded in Jaipur. “My husband is taking care of his and my mother, both aged 85, besides our 3-year-old grandson,” she added.
