Shortage of proper gear leaves doctors vulnerable

NEW DELHI: Doctors getting exposed to patients suffering from Coronavirus has left them in the lurch as their demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) is not being fulfilled. Numerous doctors from government hospitals have demanded PPE from the government, keeping in mind the risk this puts doctors in.

Hospitals all over the country are facing a shortage of masks and PPE kits, with even Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday admitting that the shortage of proper gear for doctors and other healthcare workers was a matter of concern.

Meanwhile, doctors at Lok Nayak Hospital have also raised the issue where the doctors said that the recently provided Hazmat suits are of poor quality. “The authorities are putting us in tremendous risk. The kit given to us is not even soaking water. How will it soak sweat? And we have been assigned long duty hours,” the doctor said.

This can be also be associated with the fact that many health staff from both private as well as government hospitals have either been tested positive or have been quarantined.

About 108 members of Sir Ganga Ram Hospital staff, including doctors and nurses have been quarantined after they came in contact with two patients who in their second test report were found positive for COVID19. Of the 108, around 85 are in home quarantine and 23 in the hospital.

“How will the issue be sustained if our doctors are left vulnerable?” said a doctor from the private hospital.

However, the Union Health Ministry on Sunday said that there was an initial shortage of PPE kits in the country, which was taken into account and its domestic production and procurement was started from January itself.

“People need to understand that the allotment of PPE is based on the cases reported in states. Meanwhile we are making an effort to see how its procurement is increased. It has started easing out and in the coming weeks we’ll be able to manage these issues to a large extent,” it added.

Private hospitals have also been facing the issue as recently two nurses and a doctor were tested positive for Coronavirus.

A private hospital on the condition of anonymity said that they are not equipped to handle the situation. “We have limited doctors and equipments and we can’t risk the lives of our medical staff as well,” said the MD of the hospital.