Health Professionals Contracting Coronavirus ‘Matter Of Concern’, Says Health Ministry

New Delhi: The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Tuesday (May 5) said that it’s a matter of concern that health professionals are contracting coronavirus. “For us, it is a matter of concern if any health professional gets infected. It is particularly important for all of us to ensure we take precautions while dealing with cases. There are two sets of cases we have found. First is while attending medical duties and second is someone getting infected and in-process being a professional also got infected,” said Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, during the regular media briefing on COVID-19 situation.

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We have been working with all the states and others to ensure that everyone is oriented on the proper use of PPEs and proper infection prevention measures. We have come with rational use of PPEs even in hospitals dealing with non-COVID patients, he said.

The remarks came after several cases of health professionals contracting coronavirus were reported across the country.

Mr Agarwal also informed that the doubling time of coronavirus cases in the country has improved from 3.4 days before lockdown to 12 days now.

Lockdown has yielded very positive results, doubling time has improved from 3.4 days before lockdown to 12 days now. At the same time, it is important that we sustain the momentum, he said.

The Joint Secretary also said that a Group of Ministers held its 14th meeting on COVID-19 today, chaired by Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan.

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Infrastructure, such as PPE, oxygen and oxygen cylinders, ventilators and N95 masks, was reviewed in the meeting, he said.

Speaking further, Agarwal said: “We are very comfortable in terms of managing COVID-19 as of now but any laxity at field level in terms of management and any lack of cooperation in social distancing may have its consequences.”

Also, it is important that each and every contact of positive patients need to be traced. Conducting surveillance for SARI and ILI symptoms in facilities in containment zones and otherwise, yields very valuable data and guides further action, he said.

Mr Agarwal also emphasised on the need to ensure that people continue to receive non-COVID-19 healthcare services at both government and private facilities.

While we are making all efforts to combat COVID-19, it is also important people get non-COVID facilities. We have issued guidelines on April 14 related to the delivery of non-essential health services. We have to ensure that in government and private non-government facilities. Immunization, maternal child services, critically ill patients- dialysis, cancer, diabetes, TB and blood donation should continue to run, he said.

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The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also said that there was a spike in coronavirus deaths and cases today as some states, which were not sharing data earlier, have started sharing details with regard to COVID-19 cases and fatalities.

“In the last 24 hours, 195 people died of coronavirus. Now, the total death count has reached 1,568. In the last 24 hours, we witnessed the highest increase in cases and deaths,” Mr Agarwal said.

We were not receiving reports of cases or deaths on time from some states. We persuaded them to share these details with us after which the cases have been reported and we have seen a spike in death cases today, added Mr Agarwal.

“In the last 24 hours, 1,020 patients have been cured. So, we have total 12,726 cured people now. Our recovery rate has reached 27.41 per cent. 32,138 patients are under active medical supervision. In the last 24 hours, 3,900 new cases of coronavirus have been registered, taking the total cases to 46,433,” he said.

We are dealing with an infectious disease. That is why timely reporting of cases and their management is crucial. This gap was noticed in some States, which is being addressed after due persuasion, said Mr Agarwal.

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