This year, the Independence Day is going to be celebrated in a low-key manner.
The marching contingents will be fewer and they will sport face masks and face shields, and the general distance between each in the contingent has been expanded from two to three feet. Even the number of attendees will be fewer in number and only limited people will be invited, said a senior official from the District Collector’s office.
Most importantly for the first time, the people who have been in the frontline in the fight against the deadly virus, will be honoured. The theme is ‘Honour the corona warriors.’
A few hundred people who have been in the frontline from the field of medicine such as staff nurses, paramedics, doctors and sanitation staff have been selected and they will be given certificate of appreciation.
Speaking to The Hindu, a senior staff nurse from King George Hospital, who have been on deputation to Visakha Institute of Medical Sciences (VIMS), a State COVID hospital, said there are about 500 nurses working in different government hospitals in the city such as VIMS, KGH, GHCCD, ENT, and RCD, and all of them have been exposed to the risk of contracting the virus.
Not specifying the number, she said, “Many of us have tested positive and we returned to the duty after isolating ourself for 14 days. A number of us work in the COVID wards. Despite wearing masks and PPEs, we are still at risk. Many patients and their family members have criticised us for not attending, but that is not true. If that had been the case, then the mortality rate would not have been below 1% and it would have been more,” she said. “People should remember that we are sworn to an oath, but we still have a life and families attached,” she said.
More than the nurses, the sanitation staff are the real unsung heroes.
It is not easy to clean a ward, where there is death due to a very infectious and contagious virus. And you need a heart and the guts to wrap up a body of a person, who died due to COVID-19, and this after fully knowing the risks involved. The government has done the right thing to honour them on this occasion, said district COVID-19 Special Officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College P.V. Sudhakar.
Of the 1,200 sanitation workers, including those involved in GVMC duty, over 100 have tested positive and a few have died. But they are not shying away from performing duty despite being paid the least for the meanest job. It is only now, after the pandemic that the pay for the sanitary workers in a government hospital has gone up from ₹6,000 to ₹16,000.
“We know that the job we do is considered to be menial by many, but we derive tremendous satisfaction. Just imagine a day in a hospital during this period, without us. The spread of the disease will double. We are in an emergency and crisis period and we need to rise to the occasion,” said Apparao, a sanitary worker in a government hospital.
Doctors who have been in the forefront will also be honoured. The junior doctors and PG students have been rendering yeoman service, said District Collector V. Vinay Chand.