Increasing infection among health workers poses challenge to Kerala's Covid-19 fight

Posing a serious challenge to Kerala's fight against Covid-19, around 300 health workers so far got Covid-19 infection.

Among the 267 health workers infected till July 20, 47 were doctors and 63 nurses. On Wednesday alone 24 health workers were infected in the state. Of the total health workers infected, only around 41 percent were involved in direct treatment of Covid-19 patients at hospitals. About 20 percent were infected indirectly from Covid-19 patients and the remaining got the infection during field level activities.

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Covid-19 infection among doctors and health workers was affecting the functioning of many hospitals. Around five doctors and a dozen other health workers of Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital, which is the main Covid-19 care facility in the state capital, were infected with Covid-19. As a result, many doctors and nurses had to remain in quarantine. Some public health centres and a whole department of some major hospitals had to be shut for days after health workers were tested Covid-19 positive.

Even as Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan justified that compared to many other parts of the country Kerala could offer a better safety to health workers, they point out that it was high time that the government make adequate precautions to curb the spread of infection among health workers.

A good number of doctors and nurses were infected while taking care of non-Covid-19 patients and their attenders. This happened mainly due to lack of proper Covid-19 screening of those turning up for non-Covid-19 treatment as well as patients concealing chances of Covid-19 infection.

Kerala Government Medical Officers' Association state president Dr. Joseph Chacko said that since the spread of Covid-19 among health workers would derail Kerala's fight against the pandemic, the government should take immediate measures like screening of non-Covid-19 patients turning up at hospitals and strictly restricting attenders. Covid antigen test facility should be made available at all hospitals and patients should be strictly advised to reveal any chances of Covid-19 infection.

Meanwhile, the state was already facing acute shortage of doctors to man the 740 Covid-19 first line treatment centres being opened as the Covid-19 case in Kerala was escalating alarmingly. Already house surgeons and PG doctors were put to service at the government health centres to meet the requirement. Though notifications were issued for recruitment of doctors for Covid-19 care, it was learnt that there was not much response.