Telangana's healthcare workers are more vulnerable to Covid-19 because of lack of adequate protective equipment, a study has revealed.
According to this study, the positivity rate for Covid-19 is very high among the healthcare workers like doctors, nurses and other paramedical staff.
Over 2,000 healthcare workers, including doctors, were infected with Covid-19 and at least 14 of them died due to the disease due to lack of protective measures for these frontline warriors.
The statistics released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare two days ago revealed Telangana was on the top in Covid-19 positivity rate with about 18% of total healthcare workers getting infected with the disease.
The positive rate is 16% in Maharashtra and 14% in Delhi while both the States have a huge number of cases compared to Telangana. Apparently, the health department authorities did not follow the hospital infection control practices.
Study revealed that adequate number of PPE kits was not supplied to the doctors and other medical staff.
A limited number of PPE Kits were supplied for the staff working at isolation wards while a majority of staff serving in Covid-19 hospitals managed with ordinary masks and gloves.
No mechanism was put in place to check whether all precautions were being taken in donning and doffing of the PPE kits.
Further, the PPE Kits supplied to the healthcare workers were of poor quality.
"A high-level enquiry must be ordered immediately on the procurement and supply of PPE kits. Those responsible for supplying poor quality PPE kits should be booked under Section 302 and 307 on the charges of Murder and Attempt to Murder,” Congress leader Gudur Narayana Reddy said.
