Covid-19 in India: Rising infections among medical staff raise preparedness concerns
Covid-19 in India: Across the country, the total number of health workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 has increased to 200 and as many as 12 private hospitals have been sealed.
In the past two weeks,at least 90 doctors and medical workers have tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19 ) in Mumbai hospitals, raising questions about the preparedness of hospitals to tackle the pandemic. In all, eight private super speciality hospitals, having 1,500 beds, have been sealed in Mumbai.
Across the country, the total number of health workers who have tested positive for Covid-19 has increased to 200 and as many as 12 private hospitals have been sealed.
On Thursday, a doctor died in Indore, Madhya Pradesh’s Covid-19 hotspot, but he was not on Covid-19 duty, the government clarified.
Still, in both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra, health workers’ associations have complained of inadequate masks, gloves and personal protection equipment (PPE). Globally, many health workers have died after getting infected.
The list of hospitals and clinics in Mumbai that have been restricted from taking new admissions include major medical centres such as Saifee, Jaslok, Breach Candy and Wockhardt. On Friday, another new hospital, Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar, was sealed after two nurses were diagnosed with Covid-19.
Apart from the medical staff, which includes at least 50 doctors who are being treated for Covid-19, another 200 health workers, including doctors and nurses, have been quarantined for 14 days at these hospitals.
“It is essential to keep the hospital closed for a period of 14 days for the safety of other patients. We disinfect the wards and take samples of the close contacts. This is as per the protocols set by the Union Health Ministry,” said Dr Daksha Shah, deputy health officer, BMC.
Sealing off hospitals for 14 days during an epidemic is not a good idea, said doctors.
“A rescue plan to isolate infected workers and the sanitisation of premises should be formulated to reopen these institutions within 24-48 hours instead of a prolonged shutdown of 14 days or more,” said Dr Ramen Goel, President, Indian Association of Gastro-intestinal Endo-Surgeons (IAGES).
In Rajasthan, a small private hospital in Jaipur’s Surajpole area was sealed on Thursday, after the health workers there tested positive for Covid-19, officials said, as the total number of health workers infected with the deadly virus increased to around 50 in the state. Some of them have recovered. Earlier, a private hospital in Bhilwara, where three doctors and 14 health care staff tested positive, was sealed.
In Haryana, a nurse at the general hospital, Panchkula, a microbiologist at the civil hospital, Gurugram, and a malaria worker at Faridabad, tested positive , leading to the closure of some wings of these hospitals.
“While the microbiologist has been completely cured, the nurse and malaria worker have also been responding well to the treatment,” said Haryana director general, health services, Dr SB Kamboj .
In Uttar Pradesh, one resident doctor at King George’s Medical University in Lucknow was infected.
In West Bengal, the superintendent of Howrah district hospital, where two persons who tested positive for Covid-19 died over the past 10 days, tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday night, following which he was admitted at a Covid-care hospital on Thursday morning. A health worker at the hospital has also tested positive.
All health workers are now covered under the national health insurance scheme, Ayushman Bharat. Some state governments have also provided them additional health insurance cover. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal announced compensation for any health worker dying because of the coronavirus disease. Several other state governments have announced similar compensation packages.
(with inputs from state bureaus)
