All
hospitals, including private ones, have been screening every patient for fever,
cough and travel history before they are allowed in.

Doctors examine patients at a hospital in
Delhi
In just over a month since
the first Covid-19 case was reported in Delhi, at least 24 healthcare
workers—doctors, nurses, sanitation staff—have tested positive for the disease
in the city.
While a couple of them had a history of international
travel, some of them—like the doctor couple who worked in two mohalla clinics
in north-east Delhi and a resident doctor of respiratory medicine in Safdarjung
Hospital—were infected via their patients. For the others—like the two doctors
and six nurses from Delhi State Cancer Institute and the resident doctor from
AIIMS—the source of infection is unclear.
Around 108 staff members from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had
to be quarantined after coming in contact with two Covid-19 cases unknowingly.
Similarly, around 81 people from Maharaja Agrasen Hospital were quarantined
after two of the patients admitted to the hospital for almost 20 days tested
positive for the disease. One doctor, three nurses, and a member of the
housekeeping staff have also tested positive at the hospital.
All hospitals, including private ones, have been screening every patient for
fever, cough and travel history before they are allowed in.
So far, Delhi has reported 503 cases of Covid-19, of
which 320 are linked to Tablighi Jamaat.
So many healthcare workers have taken ill, at a time when
the Delhi government is preparing for a surge in the numbers of up to 1,000
cases a day.
Why are so many healthcare workers getting infected? Experts believe it is
because they are out and about during the lockdown.
“Currently, most people are at home so they are not being
exposed to the infection. However, doctors are out and about. They are also
more likely to come in contact with people who have the infection at hospitals
and clinics. And, no matter how much screening you do, there is bound to be 20
to 30% of the people who will not have fever or cough yet will be able to
transmit the infection to the doctors,” said Dr Jugal Kishore, head of the
department of community medicine at Safdarjung Hospital.
So, what can be done? Virologist Dr Jacob John says
universal respiratory protection is what will keep the doctors safe for the
upcoming surge.
“I have been saying this. Everyone needs to wear a mask. Patients—even if they
are going to a hospital with a broken toe—should wear a surgical mask. The
doctors should all wear N-95 masks. But that is not all, they should also wear
goggles that can be sanitised every day to prevent the infection from entering
through their eyes. This is for every doctor, even in clinics. As for those in
Covid-19 wards, the government has to ensure proper protection. We need all our
doctors when the numbers shoot up,” he said.
For judicious use of the limited personal protective
equipment (PPE) stock and to ensure no cross-infection, the Delhi government
has dedicated two of its hospitals only for Covid-19 patients.
“No other patients will be seen in these two hospitals.
This is a great step by the government to prevent cross infections. This also
ensures that our PPEs are used judiciously, at the same time all our doctors
and healthcare workers get adequate protection,” said Dr JC Passey, medical
director, Lok Nayak Hospital campus, which is one of the two centres to become
dedicated Covid-19 hospitals. No doctor from the hospital has got the infection
so far, even though it has the highest number of Covid-19 positive and
suspected cases.
The government has also ensured that after working for 14 days at a time, all
the healthcare workers in the Covid-19 wards get to stay in hostels on campus
or in luxury hotels so that they do not go home and pass on the infection.
Central government hospitals like Safdarjung and Dr RML,
which also have isolation wards, have arranged for accommodation for healthcare
workers in hostels on campus.
The 28-year-old Covid-19-positive senior resident from
the physiology department at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences had
passed on the infection to his wife who was nine months pregnant. She delivered
a healthy baby boy at the hospital on Friday. The sanitation worker from AIIMS
trauma centre, who tested positive for Covid-19, had passed on the infection to
his wife, another sanitation worker in Charak Palika Hospital.
The shortage of quality PPEs—full-body suit, goggles, mask, gloves, and shoe
covers—is another problem that the governments are facing in their Covid-19
fight.
“Due to the shortage in the market, several small
manufacturers have come up and their products are not always quality, but one
or two out of five manufacturers can give us decent PPE kits,” said an official
from Lok Nayak Hospital.
The Delhi government has asked the centre for around
200,000 PPE kits and their Central Procurement Agency (CPA), which is
responsible for buying all medicines, consumables and equipment for Delhi
government-run hospitals, already has a tender in place for 1,20,000 PPE kits
with three companies, which are being supplied piecemeal.
Most hospitals have just about enough and are working on
using them judiciously. “We have around 1,800 kits in our store, around 500 are
needed in a day. But, there is another shipment scheduled to arrive on Tuesday,”
said a doctor from Safdarjung Hospital.
“The doctors are a part of our society and they are
susceptible to the infection like everyone else. We need to examine where all
of them got the infection from. Plus, we also need to ensure not only the availability
of PPE kits but also that they are being used and taken off properly,” said Dr
DK Sharma, medical superintendent, AIIMS.
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