Medics disappointed with new COVID-19 advisory for health workers

Many resident doctors associations in the national capital have expressed their dissatisfaction with the latest advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry recently for health care workers HCW working in COVID and nonCOVID areas of hospitalsMany resident doctors associations in the national capital have expressed their dissatisfaction with the latest advisory issued by the Union Health Ministry MoHFW_INDIA recently for health care workers HCW working in COVID and nonCOVID areas of hospitals pictwittercomKLxOHlegWJmdash IANS Tweets ians_india May 19 2020According to the advisory issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Won May 15 only those HCW who are at high risk of exposure will be quarantined and regular quarantine of healthcare workers after performing duty in COVID19 areas is not warranted unless they meet the stipulated criteria The advisory said only those HCW who are providing care to a COVID19 case or lab worker handling respiratory specimens from COVID19 cases without recommended PPE or with possible breach of PPE or working without mask and goggles or faceshield are considered as high risk exposure caseDr Manish President of Resident Doctors Association of Delhis Safdarjung Hospital told IANS that the association has written to Health Secretary Preeti Sudan regarding the advisory and has urged that the resident doctors should be provide at least 7 days quarantine so that at least their COVID19 test report is also procured by thenSince many resident doctors have family and relatives susceptible to COVID19 it creates a fear in them of transmission of disease to their relatives It is for this reason we want hotel accommodation for quarantine purpose for at least 7 days till the time their report comes Dr Manish told IANSSimilarly Dr Parv Mittal President of Resident Doctors Association of LNJP Hospital in Delhi expressed his disappointment about the advisory Speaking to IANS Dr Mittal said The government perceives the 2 week postduty quarantine as an lsquoundue luxury and accommodation expense as an lsquounnecessary expenditure But without quarantine there is a high chance of infection spreading to fellow doctors and other health care workersThe guideline relies on a rationale that only those HCWs who got exposed to COVID positive patients without proper PPE have a chance of infection There are multiple faults in this rationale Firstly there have been multiple cases of doctors catching infection despite proper usage of PPE Secondly working conditions in the hospitals and PPE quality provided are far from idealDr Shivaji Dev Barman President of Federation of Resident Doctors Association FORDA also said that the association wrote to Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan regarding the concerns of the health care workers as reported by IANS on MondayBarman said Risk of exposure among HCWs is high Since the virus has an incubation period of 14 days and there are many asymptomatic patients who are testing positive quarantine along with adequate testing is essential for doctors following COVID duty The virus has high infectivity and an infected doctor might put his or her close contacts like family members and colleagues at riskCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and stay updated with the latest newsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever