In Muzaffarpur, Bihar, doctors and students at the government-run Sri Krishna Medical College and the hospital are preparing to fight against coronavirus pandemic. They prepared around 100 beds in isolation wards for the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
Medical schools in small towns and regions are now stepping up their efforts to deal with the spread of infections caused by this outflow. Some, like the Muzaffarpur college, are very poorly-resourced and struggling to get the basics – masks, sanitisers, testing kits.
It is said that their doctors have been underpaid for two months. Others have suspended OPD, created fever units, and tried to expand their production capacity.
Sri Krishna Medical College has divided the 100 beds dedicated to COVID-19 into two parts-one for suspected cases and one for confirmed cases. But preparations were hampered by a “severe shortage” protective materials such as masks and hand sanitisers.
“We are checking patients through the day and we do not know if the person is a positive case or not,” said Vinayak Gautam, head, radiology, at the college.
“We are facing problems identifying the positive cases. The number of test-kits should increase else it is becoming very tough.”
He also alleged that “the doctors did not get their salary for the past two months”. At the college, postgraduate students will also man the isolation ward along with the staff and paramedics.
Even medical schools in areas where no positive cases of coronavirus infection have been found are preparing to fight against COVID-19 if it happens.
At Silchar Medical College in Assam, all suspected cases were first sent to a fever block. If they are positive for the coronavirus test, then they send them to the COVID-19 block, and if they need ventilation, then, send them to the intensive care unit or the ICU.
As per Careers360 report, Bidyut Nath, assistant professor, paediatrics, Silchar Medical College and Hospital said, “It has been organised well. We believe there are a lot of positive cases whom we are not being able to identify as they do not visit the clinic or the hospital.”
Aligarh Muslim University has already prepared a 10 bedded isolation ward. “We have established a fever or flu clinic to identify exactly the kind of fever,” said Shahid Ali Siddiqui from the department of radiotherapy, AMU.
