Lack of equipment & N95 masks expose doctors to Coronavirus-infected patients

NEW DELHI: Government hospitals in Delhi are struggling with medical equipment like N95 masks and other facilities due to which they have to send out requests to a local company. The distributor has said that situation is grim which has left the medical staff exposed to the disease.

A private hospital medical expert in Delhi said that India is not equipped to handle the crisis and if in such situation doctors are exposed to the disease due to lack of equipments, it is only going to create problems. “We have been hearing about doctors being exposed to Coronavirus patients. It is dangerous and worrisome for we are not equipped to handle the situation if the cases reach high numbers,” he told the correspondent.

Honey Singh, CEO of ARM Worldwide said that in Delhi alone he received a demand of N95 masks from about 20 hospitals. “We have donated N95 masks to about 7 to 8 hospitals. These masks are not for ordinary people and are used by doctors in dangerous situation like the pandemic,” he told the correspondent.

An N95 mask is a particulate respirator with a filter that filters at least 95% of airborne particles but is not resistant to oil. Singh said that India does not have such equipments and the demand is met by importing from other countries, especially China.

“Whatever quantity was in India, either people are blacking it out or they are just holding the stock. So, even though government has the funds but there are no funds no one can do anything about it. Funds are there the problem is equipment and supply,” Singh mentioned.

He added that many hospitals are contacting him for N95 masks everyday. Delhi is witnessing a surge in Coronavirus cases with six doctors getting affected till Wednesday. The first to be infected was a doctor from a mohalla clinic—he contracted it from a patient who also returned from Saudi Arabia. Around 900 people who came in contact with the doctors had to be quarantined. His wife, who is also a doctor, contracted the disease from him.

Meanwhile, a doctor at the Delhi State Cancer Institute and another at the Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel Hospital have also tested positive for Coronavirus. Besides, 15 medical staff members from the Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital have been quarantined after they got exposed to a COVID-19 patient. None of them have been declared positive so far.