PPE shortage back in focus as four nurses test positive

nNEW DELHI: Four nurses from the Delhi State Cancer Institute tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) on Sunday, taking the total number of health care workers — doctors, nurses, sanitation staff — who have been infected in the city to 24.

The spate of infections brings into focus the risks frontline workers face and the need for them to be adequately equipped with personal protective equipment (PPE), stocks of which are believed to be in short supply.

At least three doctors in the national capital are suspected to have been infected by their patients while for several others – such as the two doctors and six nurses from Delhi State Cancer Institute and a resident doctor from AIIMS — the source of infection is unclear.

Experts link the infections to the lack of proper personal protective equipment (PPE).

“These health workers are in high contamination zone and without protective gear, the possibility of getting the disease is much more, even if they are wearing masks and gloves. One has to even remove safety kits in sanitised zones. I don’t know how many of the hospitals in smaller districts have these zones,” said Dr KK Aggarwal, former head of the Indian Medical Association

Around 108 staff members from Sir Ganga Ram Hospital had to be quarantined after coming in contact with two Covid-19 cases. Similarly, around 81 people from Maharaja Agrasen Hospital were quarantined after two patients tested positive.