With the spread of COVID-19 continuing unabated, the general advice for citizens is to restrict movement outside of home. But for frontline workers, especially healthcare professionals in government hospitals, it is a luxury they cannot afford. The risks that they expose themselves to every day, attending COVID-19 patients, can make one’s hair stand on end. But what is even unnerving is that they come across many asymptomatic persons, without either of them knowing about the patient’s infection status.
It is only a matter of time, say junior and senior doctors, resigned to the fact that they too might contract COVID-19 sooner or later. What worries them most is the fear of exposing their family members and other patients to the virus.
“It is a question of when, more than how,” avers a house surgeon (MBBS intern), summing up the state of mind of medical staff on COVID duty. Hospitals are among high-risk areas, visited by people with various forms of diseases and infections. “There is no way that medical services will be stopped. So hospitals will continue to be high-risk zones,” the house surgeon says.
Adding to the panic is the rising number of cases among healthcare professionals in unexpected facilities. Of at least 63 positive cases among doctors in the State till June 6, only four have been reported from Gandhi Hospital, the largest COVID isolation centre in in Telangana. The remaining 59 are from non-COVID government hospitals!
A senior gynaecologist who attends COVID-19 patients says that she has been staying away from her diabetic husband as well as other family members to avoid spreading the virus if she too in case she contracts it. “We know we will also get infected at some point of time. And I am not going to stop serving patients. Sometimes, I wonder if I already got COVID-19 and recovered from it, being asymptomatic all along. We can’t avoid thinking about all these possibilities,” adds the gynaecologist.
This opinion is not isolated to a few doctors. Many post-graduate students, house surgeons, senior resident doctors and other senior doctors are also mentally prepared for any eventuality. “A few weeks into the pandemic made us realise that we will get infected at some point. We are thankful that we have not been infected till now and are able to still serve patients,” says the house surgeon who works at Modern Government Maternity Hospital (MGMH), Petlaburj, and tested negative in recently-conducted tests.
On tenterhooks
‘Quit and come home’. This is the plea of family members of house surgeons. After testing negative in recently conducted tests, a lot of MBBS students pursuing internship have been asked to return home.
“Not just my family, my friends’ parents have also asked them to discontinue the internship and go home. But I stayed back as I might have contracted the infection on the day I was tested. Three of my friends tested positive. Besides, my conscience will not allow me to stay at home during this pandemic,” a house surgeon says.
A man whose daughter works at Osmania General Hospital said that most of their family members want her to quit the internship and prepare for other opportunities. “Her grandmothers had assured to pay for her post graduate management seat though she got one by merit. They have asked her to discontinue the internship and prepare for United State Medical Licensing Examination. If my daughter is asked for work for six hours, she always puts in more hours. So she attends more patients. Given the current situation, isn’t life more important than career,” he questions.
