A 43-year-old physician from Malad has been reporting to Kandivali’s Shatabdi Hospital on night duty for a week now. Posted in the COVID-19 ward, Dr. Mehul Bhatt takes swabs of suspected patients, assesses positive patients and looks at their overall treatment and recovery.
While some private doctors who volunteered to share the load of civic hospitals dropped out mid-way, nearly 40 others, including Dr. Bhatt, continue to report every day. “My family is concerned but I talk to them scientifically. As many as 80% of people who get infected with SARS CoV-2 have mild disease and recover,” he said. Dr. Bhatt, who has been practising for 20 years, said, “This is a medical emergency and it was just an instantaneous thought to join the force.” He opens his clinic only for a few hours daily as the footfall has reduced due to the lockdown.
The civic body had reached out to the Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) to get names of doctors willing to volunteer. While it asked for a list of 50 names, the MMC gave them 150.
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But many doctors attended the orientations, worked for a few days, and dropped out. Some faced pressure from their families, others were concerned about their housing societies, and some could not fathom the haphazard arrangements at the civic hospitals.
At Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, 32-year-old medical officer Dr. Sachin Khade, who is attached to a private hospital in Vikhroli has been volunteering since April 2. “My wife and father have been very encouraging. They ask me to be cautious but never insisted that I drop out,” he said. The father of two travels to Kalyan in a bus every day.
The hospital has allocated nearly 100 isolation beds and has seen a massive surge of suspected and positive patients over the last few days.
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In Marol’s Seven Hills Hospital, which is being developed as the biggest isolation facility, Dr. Priya Sharma (29) is one of the doctors on duty. “My father back home in Ujjain calls me a warrior and has been encouraging me immensely. My mother’s reaction is the opposite. She is extremely concerned and has been asking me to leave. But I have decided to serve as much as I can in these difficult times,” she said. Dr. Sharma ensures that her personal protective equipment (PPE) is in place before she starts work.
According to Dr. Shivkumar Utture of MMC, the civic body has asked for a commitment for eight hours from the volunteers. “The civic commissioner has assured that some kind of compensation will be worked out for them,” he said.