IT Correspondent
Mumbai, July 18:
With increasing number of doctors succumbing to corona virus, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has sounded a red alert and has appealed to the government to provide better Personal Protection Equipments to all those dealing with patients, including doctors, nurses and other health workers.
As per an IMA survey, 99 doctors have died and 1302 doctors have tested positive for coronavirus across the country till date. Most of those who have succumbed are family physicians, Maharashtra Medical Council President and IMA member Dr. Shiv Kumar Utture said here.
The break of doctors died is: less than 35 years of age- 07, 35 years to 50 years-19, more than 50 years-73, Total 99. The break of doctors tested positive is: Practising doctors-586, residential doctors- 566 and house surgeons-150, Total-1302.
Dr.Utture said while general death rate of corona virus is around 5 per cent, it is nearly 9 per cent of doctors fraternity, raising questions about their safety. As such all doctors have been asked to take precautions to safeguard themselves.
Today there is no control over the manufacture of the PPE and that is the reason doctors and health workers are succumbing to the infection. As such the Government should prepare guidelines for manufacture of PPEs and ensure that only those who are qualified and capable of manufacturing the PPE of standard quality are allowed to manufacture them. The person wearing defective PPE is unwittingly exposed to the deadly virus. IMA has already made certain suggestions to the Government to combat the disease and hopefully the Government will implement them, he said.
The Government has not officially declared the number of doctors’ deaths. However when IMA began collecting information individually from the doctors across the country, the information about the extent to which the doctors are affected by coronavirus was revealed, Dr Utture said.
