Safety measures taken for different professionals working on the frontline to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic is too little as the number of infected medical workers increasing at an alarming rate. At least two health workers in the country have died so far while 88 more are infected by the deadly virus, said concerned sources.
BMA Secretary-General Dr Ehteshamul Haque Chowdhury on Wednesday told the media that around 52 doctors have been tested positive for Covid-19 in the country. When asked about how the doctors get affected even after having personal protection, he said, “Hundreds of crores of taka is being spent to brought PPE including gloves, medical/surgical masks, goggles, face shield, and gowns, as well as items for specific procedures. But not a single consignment meets the criteria of the World Health Organization. Naturally the question arises why these items were bought in the first place?
The BMA Secretary General said, “Unfortunately, corruption often thrives during times of crisis. Our country is reporting shortages in medical supplies. This puts additional strain on already fragile procurement processes and increases the risk that suppliers, knowing that government has little choice but to pay, may extort by demanding higher prices. These corrupt people have endangered the lives of thousands of medical workers. He urged the concerned people to provide quality medical protection gears.
In this context, experts have stressed adequate security measures for medical workers, law enforcers and other emergency professionals who are directly confronting the virus to ensure all sorts of assistance for common people. Occupational Safety, Health and Environment Foundation (OSHE) Executive Director Repon Chowdhury said COVID-19 needs to be declared as an occupational disease immediately under the present Labour Law through an official executive order by the government.
“Adequate safety measure for emergency professionals is a genuine and timely demand under the present context in Bangladesh,” he added. Talking to different sources from Directorate General of Health Services, IEDCR and Bangladesh Medical Association, it was learnt that the infected health workers include 52 doctors, 28 nurses, five IEDCR staff and four medical technologists. In addition to them, eight journalists, seven law enforcing personnel and five bank staff have also been confirmed coronavirus positive.
Notable, around 3,300 health workers in China and over 5,000 health workers in Italy were infected by the virus in their attempt to contain the pandemic. Now question is being raised from different strata of society that if health workers in developed countries become affected in such a large scale despite having state-of-the-art health management system, what would happen to the country’s doctors and nurses who are leading from the front backed by a questionable health system.
Contacted, Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) secretary general Dr Md Ehteshamul Haque Chowdhury Dulal expressed his frustration over ‘extreme mismanagement prevalent in treatment of covid-19 patients in Bangladesh. He said doctors and nurses are working almost 24 hours at present which is hampering the quality of services. The medical staffs should work in three shifts to provide standard medical care.
Not all physicians need to go together, he continued, as the number of corona patients is increasing every day, unemployed doctors and nurses need to be prepared and recruited by special arrangement, so that the situation can be handled. He also said patients should not hide their medical condition from doctors if they have any Covid-19 symptom.
“If they hide the truth all the involved professionals including the doctor and nurse would be in danger,” he added. Contacted, Dr Nirupam Das, founder and spokesperson of Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF) alleged that the government-supplied PPE set is not adequate enough to ensure protection of health workers.
“To prevent spread of virus, a doctor must need eight types of PPE. It includes N95 or SSP2 mask, surgical mask (three layers), isolation gown (for patients), shoe cover, face shield, pb70 level protection, hand gloves and virus-preventive goggles,” he said adding that the government’s PPE set includes only a gown, a SSP2 mask and a surgical mask (one layer).
The doctor forecast that the medical workers who got PPE sets will definitely run out of stock within a few days as each set of PPE is for one time use only.
“Now, we are staying at the 4th stage (last stage) of infection. In this stage, the virus transmission is practically uncontrollable and there are many major clusters of infection all over the country,” Dr Nirupam Das added.
“Our situation will be more terrible than Italy or USA as we do not have medical facilities like them,” he stressed. Dr Md Moyeen Uddin, an assistant professor of Medicine at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital has died at Kurmitola General Hospital, Dhaka, on Wednesday after contracting the novel coronavirus infection. He was in charge of Corona ward of Osmani hospital.
Dr Moyeen’s death sparked countrywide uproar on social media, alleging that he did not get proper treatment in Sylhet after his condition deteriorated. At present, the medical workforce is more strained than ever. Doctors and nurses are reporting gear shortages, lax protocols, and a high level of stress in their workplaces — with the worst still to come. There has been a demand from medical experts to ensure their maximum protection from various places. Otherwise, they fear that the situation in the country will worsen.
Former Vice Chancellor and Virologist of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Professor Nazrul Islam said yesterday that at the moment, the doctors and health workers are taking the lead in preventing corona. Health workers, including medical technologists, are collecting samples from the homes of suspects. The nurses are taking constant care of these patients. The nature of their job puts health care workers at an increased risk of catching COVID-19.
But if health care officials get infected while giving services, then no one will be able to get treatment. It is the responsibility of the government to give them the highest protection. Any relaxation in this work can bring extreme danger. The Prime Minister has announced that no irregularities will be tolerated during this unprecedented global health crisis.
52 doctors infected in Bangladesh
Department of Health, IEDCR and BMA sources said that up to Thursday, a total of 52 doctors have been infected. Among them, an Associate Professor of Gastroenterology at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) and an Orthopedic Surgeon from a capital institution are undergoing treatment in ICUs of Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital. At the same time, a physician and a staff member of Dhaka’s Kuwait Bangladesh Friendship Government Hospital, where coronavirus patients are being treated, have tested positive for coronavirus.
On March 22, an emergency Medical Officer was first identified at Delta Medical College and Hospital in the capital. The head of the ICU department of the hospital was also infected on March 27. Both of them came in contact with a patient who died of corona in Tollerbagh, of the capital. As a result of contact with the patient, 12 nurses and four staff from the same hospital were sent to home quarantine. On March 26 anther doctor of Popular Hospital have tested Covid-19 positive.
Outside Dhaka, a civil surgeon from Narayanganj, a Health and Family Welfare Officer of Sadar Upazila, a resident of Brahmanbaria, a resident doctor at Matlab Upazila Health Complex in Chandpur and a physician in Sylhet were found to have coronary infections. In addition, Selim Akand, an assistant deputy community medical officer, died at the Narayanganj District Sadar Hospital on April 9. On April 7, a doctor had tested positive in Nilphamari and Brahmanbaria. On the same day, a health assistant was attacked in Jessore. On April 12, a female doctor was diagnosed with an infection at Impulse Hospital in the capital. Later on Tuesday, three more doctors of the same hospital have tested Covid-19 positive.
Apart from this, former Vice-Chancellor of BSMMU, a physician at Hatia Upazila Health Complex in Noakhali and an assistant professor in the ICU department of Dhaka Children's Hospital have been tested positive for Covid-19. Three other nurses in contact with him were identified with the infection. A total of 51 doctors have been reported so far in the country, including a doctor at Insaf Baraka Kidney and General Hospital in the capital.
28 nurses infected
According to Bangladesh Nursing Association, a total of 28 nurses have been infected including Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Insafa Baraka Kidney and General Hospital, Impulse, Dhaka Children's Hospital, Popular Hospital, Victoria Hospital, Gazaria Upazila Health Complex, Munshiganj Ford Hospital, Delta Hospital, Apollo Hospital in the country.
Ismat Ara Begum, president of the Nursing Association, said that none of the materials provided for the protection of the medical staff were standard. N-95 masks were not given anywhere. Health workers are providing services only by wearing surgical mask. Apart from this, the protection given in the name of PPE does not have any quality. There’s a high risk that health workers may get affected. She informed the senior authorities, including the Health Minister. But they did not address the issue.
Ismat Ara Begum also said that after talking to the nurses, I had learned that there was no objection to serving the patients. They just need proper protection. They are at risk of infection due to poor quality equipments. One nurse said, “My frustration is that I have never felt like safety is important. When I’m going to work, I could endanger me and my family and I feel like my institution doesn’t even care at all.”
4 medical technologists infected
Two people from the IEDCR, one from a specialised medical institute and one from a private medical institute in the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area of the capital, have been infected, sources said. Former Secretary General of Bangladesh Medical Technologist Association Selim Molla said that technicians were going from house to house collecting samples of suspects and providing them in the lab. But most technologists have not yet been provided with PPE. This puts them at increased risk of being infected. He called upon the authorities concerned to provide quality protection to the sampling technologists.
Director General of the Department of Health Dr Abul Kalam Azad told the media that about 15 lakh PPE has been collected till yesterday. About 3.5 lakhs of them have been distributed. About 3,000 doctors and more than 1,200 nurses have come under training. Meanwhile, five-star, three-star quality hotels have been allocated for doctors, nurses and health workers in the capital. Counseling initiatives have been taken to increase their morale and maintaining mental health.
