Daunting task for healthcare workers as many infected in second wave

NAGPUR: Covid hospitals, testing and vaccination centres are facing a big challenge amid the surge in daily cases. The workload has increased with many doctors and healthcare workers testing positive.
Many doctors who had been able to protect themselves so far have now been infected. Some of them are hospitalized while many are in home isolation with other members of family too testing positive.
The severity of infection among the vaccinated healthcare workers (HCWs) is said to be less as compared to other Covid patients requiring hospitalization.
The Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) testing centres are one of the worst hit with doctors and nurses catching the infection. The NMC is running over 40 testing centres where doctors, mainly interns from medical, ayurveda and dental colleges are collecting the swab.
Officials said that it is baffling how these HCWs are testing positive despite using PPE kits and taking all protective measures.
A top NMC official claimed hardly 10 to 15 HCWs at their centres have tested positive during the second wave so far. “It is just like the previous wave when our doctors and nurses were testing positive,” the officials claimed.
TOI has learnt that the staffers at Pachpaoli Covid care centre, where a DCHC too has been started, have tested positive. Similar is the case of NMC centre at Regional Police Training School (RPTS) and a couple of centres in Mangalwari and Ashi Nagar zones.
Staff at RPTS complained that more number of doctors and nurses have tested positive after the facility was shifted to the RTPTS hostel waiting hall. Earlier, the facility was at the hostel and had enough space for physical distancing. “This is not good for citizens as well as staff. Doctors are testing postives within a day or two of joining,” they said.
At private hospitals, HCWs are testing positive due to various reasons.
Kingsway Hospital’s critical care physician Dr Afzal Sheikh said that at least 20 to 30% staff has tested positive for the first time in the second wave. “Despite meticulous precaution, they got infected. This is because the mutant strain is very infectious and a little lapse in precaution is proving costly,” he said.
Dr Sadashiv Bhole, one of the directors of Seven Star Hospital, said around 40% of their staff and their families have been hit by Covid so far. “As per our investigation, most of them didn’t have hospital acquired infection. It has been found that someone in their family tested positive and later they too got infected,” he said.
Dr Bhole claimed that the staff members adopt highest safety measures in hospital but at home they prefer to stay relaxed. “75 to 80% risk is outside hospitals. We had insured everyone and taking care of all our staff including their families,” he said.