NEW DELHI: With deadly coronavirus showing its effect across the globe, the COVID-19 cases reported in the world stand at 1,273,709 and 69,456 people have died so far. In India, 4,288 corona positive cases have been reported so far and death toll rose to 117 till date.

An unexpected rise in the number of corona positive cases in India is a matter of worry and now it is reported that over 50 doctors and other health care workers have tested positive for COVID-19 across India.

Now, a question arises whether there are chances for the hospitals to become the next hotspots? Studies say that nation’s front-line medical workers who are working tirelessly to safeguard the lives of corona infected patients are becoming vulnerable to COVID-19. The doctors at the Zhongan Hospital in China’s Wuhan revealed that, “Presumed hospital-related transmission was suspected if a cluster of health professionals or hospitalised patients in the same wards became infected and a possible source of infection could be tracked”.

There are reports stating that person-to-person transmissions in hospital clusters was observed during the 2013 MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia.

America, Italy and Spain are witnessing the greatest number of COVID-19 infections. Doctors and nurses in Spain are in self-isolation and 14% of confirmed corona positive cases in the country are of medical staff. In Italy, the number is below 10%.

Taking all the pointers into consideration, the medical staff may become the carriers of the infections. According to the doctors, it is said that the ambulances and staff ferrying patients to the hospitals may also become vectors of the virus.

The most contaminated zones in hospitals were ICUs, obstetric isolation wards and other isolation wards for NCP. Self-service printers, desktop/keyboard and doorknobs are also a few most contaminated objects in the hospitals.

The doctors and other paramedical staff are worried that whether they may carry the virus home; the elderly and immune-compromised people and the others with comorbidities are at a higher risk. The doctors are taking maximum care so that they won’t become carriers.

“Indian hospitals have been adequately equipped so far. The doctors and medical staff are well aware which is why they are taking all PPE and hygiene guidelines seriously. But controlling this pandemic needs the cooperation of the government and the public, which also includes medical staff. If a patient hides his/her history or symptoms, it will lead to more infections and situations like what happened at Ganga Ram where over 100 doctors have been quarantined.

However, we will need more PPE and more equipment in the coming weeks, because if hospitals start becoming spreaders of the contagion like it did in Italy, the situation could get much worse very quickly,” said Dr Dhiren Gupta, a senior consultant at New Delhi’s Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. (Inputs from HT)

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