The country’s front-ranking medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, are exposed to heavy risk in the battle against the ongoing coronavirus spread due to lack of sufficient quantity of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Amid photos of one-time PPE-wearing administrative officials going viral in the social media, the medical professionals who are fighting coronavirus or COVID-19 from the front are increasingly complaining that most of the PPE allotted by the government have fallen into the wrong hands.
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), about 2.91 lakh PPE sets have been distributed until Thursday.
But the country’s doctors and nurses alleged that they did not get the PPE sets as non-medical officials distributed the PPE sets among themselves, depriving the medical professionals.
“A very limited number of doctors and nurses have received PPE sets,” a doctor said.
On the other hand, medical staff who got PPE sets claimed that the sets, provided by the government, are not adequate to protect them from the virus.
“A full set of PPE requires eight items in total, but the government-provided set consists of three items only,” the doctor said. Among the two hardest-hit nations, over 3,300 doctors and nurses in China and mover than 2,600 in Italy have been infected in their efforts to contain the virus.
“The number of PPE that government provided to the doctors is less than 10 percent of the actual need. At present, about 80 percent intern doctors at different public hospitals in the country are not attending duty out of fear,” Dr Nirupam Das, founder and spokesperson of Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF) told Bangladesh Post on Friday.
“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,” Dr Nirupam said, adding that the government’s PPE set includes only a gown, a SSP2 mask and a surgical mask (one layer).
The doctor forecasted that the medical workers who got PPE sets will definitely run out of stock within few days as each set of PPE is for one time use only.
Observing that the next 10 to 14days are very critical for the country’s fight against coronavirus, he said that doctors and nurses are facing serious transportation problem as well as public transport is not available now.
Talking to Bangladesh post, a number of doctors and nurses from different state-run hospitals expressed their fear over being exposed to the virus and be contaminated while on duty.
Commenting on the issue, Joint General Secretary of Bangladesh Nurses’ Association Asaduzzaman Jewel told Bangladesh Post, “Nurses did not get PPE sets one-tenth of their requirement.
In Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), only emergency ward nurses have received PPE sets. There are no PPE sets for nurses in other wards including admission and surgery wards. The situation of nurses is more awful in other medical college hospitals.”
In reply to a query over how many medical workers have been infected so far, he said, “Two doctors and two nurses have been tested positive of coronavirus. Results of three more nurses’ are pending.”
Jewel who also is the general secretary of BNA’s DMCH unit lamented that coronavirus testing facilities are not available for nurses who are the frontline soldiers in the battle against COVID-19. “We have to request the higher authorities to test any suspected case,” he added.
Another nurse of DMCH, seeking anonymity, told Bangladesh Post that he is using a one-time used surgical mask for three consecutive days. “I did not get any PPE set,” he said.
“Until this very moment we did not get any PPE set. Many doctors have been infected with coronavirus and died in developed countries despite having appropriate protection.
Then, how would the medical staff in Bangladesh deal with coronavirus without any protection?” Shovan Acharjee, a doctor of pediatric department of Chattogram Medical College Hospital told Bangladesh Post.
“We have got much smaller number of the protective gowns than expected. We did not get other PPE like goggles, masks, face shield to protect ourselves from coronavirus,” a medical officer of Shibchar Upazila Health Complex told Bangladesh Post.
Meanwhile, a young doctor at a private hospital in Mirpur was infected with coronavirus while being exposed to a coronavirus-infected patient.
Earlier, some doctors were put on home quarantine when they had allegedly come in contact with the patients without having any protective gowns.
Besides, rumours spread at Dhaka Medical College Hospital that coronavirus infected patients have been admitted to the hospital.
Somebody spread panic by shouting ‘Corona Corona’ at the out-door department (OPD) in the hospital, created fear among other patients and doctors.
They are now scared to treat patients for lack of protection.
According to medical experts, the country’s medical system is in dire crisis now. It is difficult to identify who is infected with coronavirus and who is not. As a result doctors are confused and face anxiety.
On the other hand, many doctors have stopped visiting patients because of their own safety. Many are not even attending patients in their private chambers.
According to patients and their relatives, many patients suffering from influenza, high fever and cough, are not getting treatment going from doctors chamber to chamber.
It is known from our district correspondents report, treatment crisis is going on in all sections and districts of the country including Chattagram, Sylhet, Khulna, Barisal, Pabna, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Noakhali.
Treatment is not available for those patients who are suffering from respiratory problem, fever, cough and pain.
According to the Rajshahi Civil Surgeon’s Office, doctors are in fear as they did not receive PPE sets till Thursday morning. Our Khulna correspondent said that coronavirus panic spread among doctors and nurses in Khulna Medical College Hospital after dying a suspected coronavirus infected patient in the hospital.
On March 23, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said at a press conference at the health ministry, “We are giving PPE sets to the doctors. We have distributed about 50,000 PPE sets. And the rest will be given in the next 14 days.”
Responding to a query, the minister said, “When the coronavirus was first detected in China, they did not have PPE sets. Now we don’t need so much PPE.”
About the importance of PPE, Professor of Neurosurgery Department of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Dr Mohammad Hossain said, “PPE must be used wherever needed. Doctors must use PPE when visiting patients with fever, cough. There is no alternative to this.’