Every twelfth Covid positive case in Delhi now a health worker; pressure on system grows

Since March 26, when the first COVID-19 positive case emerged among health workers, such cases have kept on increasing at a very high rate in the National Capital. So far, 418 health workers from 33 hospitals of Delhi have been found to be COVID-19 positive. This makes every 12th case of COVID-19 positive in Delhi among health workers. This shows a very dangerous trend.

On Friday, a doctor working at Aruna Asif Ali Hospital was found COVID-19 positive, taking the tally of such cases involving health care workers at hospitals to two. On Thursday, it was found that nine Health Workers of Sushrut Trauma Centre was COVID 19 positive.

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Worst-effected is Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital and Babu Jagjeevan Ram Hospital having 83 and 75 Health workers respectively who tested COVID-19 positive. These are non-COVID designated hospitals run by the Delhi government. Max Hospital Patparganj with 33 cases, Delhi Cancer Institute with 26, Lady Hardige and AIIMS with 22 HW turned Positive raises alarm.

It may also be noted that last week in a circular, the Delhi government sought written explanation from coronavirus positive doctors and healthcare personnel working at non-COVID hospitals on how they had contracted the infection. The state government also accused them of not following guidelines properly.

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With more and more positive cases, hospitals are shutting their services temporarily. Many private practitioners are not opening their clinics, while those associated with hospitals are scared of going out. This has certainly created pressure on doctors.

Ever since the COVID-19 virus outbreak, doctors have been demanding better facilities for them. Resident doctors and medical forums have repeatedly raised issues of poor quality of PPE kits in different parts of the country, due to which many hospital administrations had restricted interaction of their staff with the media.

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