There is a shortage of doctors in Anantapur district even as the number of active cases has been on the rise, putting inordinate pressure on the available government facilities.
In the 19 Community Health Centres, Government Hospitals and Area Hospitals managed by the Andhra Pradesh Vaidya Vidhana Parishad, there are supposed to be 292 doctors (sanctioned) of all cadre, but of them, only 128 have been filled and 164 are vacant, District Coordinator of Hospital Services (DCHS) N. Ramesh Nath said.
Of the 128 functional doctors, many are periodically turning COVID positive and they are given 15 days quarantine, putting further pressure on the government healthcare system in the rural areas.
In the Primary Health Centres at the grassroots level, of the 234 medical officers only 193 are available, 82 lab technician posts are sanctioned, but only 78 are filled; of the 1,203 ANM posts, only 498 are filled and Male Nurses too are in short supply with only 204 of them serving against 428 sanctioned.
For the COVID-19 special services, about 1,000 medical and paramedical personnel were recruited recently and majority of them joined service, GGH Superintendent KVVS Venkateswara Rao said and they have been deputed to Super Speciality Hospital, Cancer Hospital and the GGH main hospital. While on the face of it, the staff look too inadequate as many of the doctors and paramedical staff are overburdened and are falling prey to the infection due to continuous exposure in the wards.
On the other hand, the number of active cases, which were below 10,000 by April-end, went up to 14,528 on Tuesday, while the positivity rate continues to hover around 40%. The positivity rate, which touched a peak four days ago at 44.99% has come down to 38.50%.
Dr. Ramesh Nath appealed to the politicians, non-medical officers and other general public not to go into the COVID-19 wards without taking adequate precautions such as wearing a PPE kit. “Some of them think that just wearing a double mask is enough, but that is inadequate,” he opines.
