On Friday, another 19 health workers tested positive from hospitals, taking the count of affected medical staff to nearly 100 in Mumbai-likely to be the highest in India.
Alarmed by the spread of infection among frontline workers, private hospitals have been asked to urgently provide safety kits, additional remuneration and transport.
At Bhatia Hospital, under containment since Wednesday, 14 staffers, including 10 nurses, two doctors and a physiotherapist, tested positive, leading to it being sealed. Two nurses tested positive at Dadar’s Shushrusha Hospital. It has been asked to stop new admissions.
As per media report, Shushrusha Hospital in Dadar has been directed to discharge all patients within 48 hours.
With major hospitals like Jaslok, Wockhardt and Bhatia shutting operations and Breach Candy running a bare minimum of services, at least 800-900 beds are currently out of circulation in south Mumbai alone. The development has led to questions about safety protocols followed in the hospitals.
A civic official said with the right protocols, some infections can be avoided. “Kasturba Hospital, for instance, has not reported any infections among doctors and staffers,” he said.
A senior management official of a private hospital said, “A few cases of infections in hospitals were expected since we are actively handling Covid-19 patients. However, the initial shortage of PPEs and bulk infections in some hospitals has made the situation messy”.
Among the 100 infected healthcare workers, over 60 are nurses, 10 are doctors while the remaining are technicians working in cardiac or pathology labs, and cleaners.
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