Haryana’s frontline soldiers battle Covid sans protective gear

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 30

The medical staff in Haryana fighting Covid-19 claim that they have not been given enough protective gear to stay safe.

“We are not being provided personal protective equipment (PPE) on the plea that the limited stock is to be put to use in the eventuality of community transmission,” said a doctor posted at a district-level hospital in Haryana.

A doctor working in Gurugram said while they had been provided PPE, nurses, who were equally at risk, had been left out. On Sunday, a video of a staff nurse, wearing a raincoat and shoes covered with polythene bags, working with a PHC in old Panchkula had gone viral. While the nurse was wearing a surgical mask, 4-5 Asha workers standing next to her, didn’t have any.

“We are not being provided proper kits. I am using a raincoat and polythene bags to protect myself. We are exposed to infections as we have to visit slums and homes to provide medicine. The Asha workers accompanying us don’t even have masks. We request the government to provide us PPE,” the nurse is heard pleading.

Kriti Maroli, a Gurugram-based dentist, took to the social media to narrate her horrific experience as a Covid suspect at an upscale super-speciality hospital.

She wrote to PM Narendra Modi after reports of her samples were delayed due to scarcity of testing kits.

“Mr Prime Minister, what a farce this ‘thali bajao’ has turned out to be. If you are not here for your doctors…, who else will?” she asked in her Facebook post. Kamna Kakkar, a doctor with the PGIMS, Rohtak, too posted a hard-hitting tweet, tagging the PM to highlight lack of N95 masks for doctors.

Those working in private hospitals too are unhappy over lack of protective gear. “We are willing to pay, but the authorities refuse to provide us any protective gear,” said a Fatehabad doctor. A doctor posted in a government hospital and a nurse with a private hospital in Gurugram are among 21 persons to have tested positive for Covid.

Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj, Director General of Health Services, downplayed the issue. He claimed the government had adequate stock of PPE for the doctors.