NEW DELHI: AIIMS on Monday appealed to people not to discriminate against the healthcare workers playing a crucial role in the fight against the novel coronavirus.
In a video, institute director Dr Randeep Guleria said novel coronavirus caused Covid-19, a viral infection, late last year. “However, this has also created unprecedented issues which are unfounded and mainly driven by fear rather than scientific evidence,” he added.
It is followed by an address by Dr Kaushik Sinha Deb, an associate professor in the psychiatry department. Pointing to reports about people fearing that doctors and other frontline workers, who have pledged their life for treating Covid-19 patients, may be spreading the infection, the doctor said, “All medical workers take strong precautions. It takes more than half an hour for a doctor to remove all protective gear he uses while managing Covid-19 positive patients. So, by the time a doctor comes out of active duty into the community, the chances of infection from a healthcare professional is nil.”
Dr Deb added that the reaction of some people trying to throw doctors out of their house was coming mainly from fear and was uncalled for.
The video also appealed to people not to attach any stigma to Covid-19. “The Covid-19 worriors who are putting their life at stake should be given more care by society rather than being stigmatised,” the AIIMS director emphasised.
The video follows multiple incidents of doctors and nurses being asked to leave their rented premises and, in a few cases, even getting abused by miscreants. A woman resident doctor of Safdarjung Hospital was reported to be verbally abused near her residence recently.
In a video, institute director Dr Randeep Guleria said novel coronavirus caused Covid-19, a viral infection, late last year. “However, this has also created unprecedented issues which are unfounded and mainly driven by fear rather than scientific evidence,” he added.
It is followed by an address by Dr Kaushik Sinha Deb, an associate professor in the psychiatry department. Pointing to reports about people fearing that doctors and other frontline workers, who have pledged their life for treating Covid-19 patients, may be spreading the infection, the doctor said, “All medical workers take strong precautions. It takes more than half an hour for a doctor to remove all protective gear he uses while managing Covid-19 positive patients. So, by the time a doctor comes out of active duty into the community, the chances of infection from a healthcare professional is nil.”
Dr Deb added that the reaction of some people trying to throw doctors out of their house was coming mainly from fear and was uncalled for.
The video also appealed to people not to attach any stigma to Covid-19. “The Covid-19 worriors who are putting their life at stake should be given more care by society rather than being stigmatised,” the AIIMS director emphasised.
The video follows multiple incidents of doctors and nurses being asked to leave their rented premises and, in a few cases, even getting abused by miscreants. A woman resident doctor of Safdarjung Hospital was reported to be verbally abused near her residence recently.
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