The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has written to the government that with COVID-19 transmission becoming intense, the State needs to exercise extreme caution to ensure that the test-isolate-treat protocol is followed strictly and that more epidemiological surveys are carried out in the population to assess the spread of the virus.
It has also warned the government that it might be better to postpone the local body elections because campaigning and increased social interactions at a time when the epidemic in the State is scaling the peak could have serious consequences.
It has also cautioned the government that unless the authorities can fully ensure that adequate room quarantine facilities and facilities for the emergency transport of a patient is available, it might be better to house asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 patients at COVID first line treatment centres itself.
Such patients who are allowed home isolation would have to be monitored properly to ensure that their condition does not deteriorate suddenly, IMA warned.
‘Pay doctors on time’
It also reminded the government that the doctors who come forward to work in CFLTCs should be paid their salaries and risk allowance on time so that more doctors are willing to serve the government. This is important because as the number of patients go up, shortage in human resources could be a problem the government would be up against soon.
It pointed out that the staff at those private hospitals which the government took over as COVID hospitals, have not received their salaries for the past five months.
On info sharing
The IMA also reminded the government that while the number of COVID-19 patients in the State had crossed 50,000, the data and clinical information on just 500 patients had been shared with the doctor fraternity. It was vital that patient information is shared with the doctors in private sector.
It also termed ‘dangerous’ the government’s policy of promoting ‘unscientific claims’ on boosting immunity.