Valley medico catches COVID-19 infection due to ‘sub-standard’ PPE

The resident doctor, who recently tested positive for COVID-19 in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district, has alleged that sub-standard personal protective equipment (PPE) exposed him to the infection at the emergency wing of the hospital, where he is working.

“I am among the frontline doctors and should have proper protective gear. Unfortunately, I was provided with poor-quality masks and gowns, which exposed me to coronavirus,” the 40-year-old medico, working in an associated hospital with Government Medical College (GMC), Baramulla, was quoted by a local newspaper as having, said.

He claimed that there were no N-95 masks in the hospital for doctors who have to examine patients in the casualty wing. “It puts doctors to huge risk from asymptomatic coronavirus carriers. Substandard protective gear has put my contacts, including patients, family members, and relatives at risk of infection,” the medico said.

He said his wife and children have already started showing COVID-19 symptoms. His wife has already been kept in the isolation facility after she developed symptoms. Her samples have been sent for testing but the report is still awaited. His children, he said, are admitted to a quarantine centre as a precautionary measure.

The doctor said that he had probably contracted the infection from one of the elderly patients on April 13 when they came to the hospital emergency for hypertension and other age-related ailments.

“They were sick but showing no COVID-19 symptoms. Such patients are silent carriers of the infection as community transmission has already started in Kashmir,” he claimed.

However, Medical Superintendent of GMC Baramulla Dr. Syed Masood said that proper protective gear, including N-95 masks, were being provided to doctors and other hospital employees.

“He might have contracted infection by other means or in the community, as he has a life outside this hospital as well,” the MS clarified.