Doctors fear Haryana ill-prepared for Covid challenge

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 8

With Covid cases increasing by the day despite the lockdown, health professionals in Haryana want the state government to increase the number of ICUs, beds for isolation, ventilators and protective gear for frontline medics to prepare for an outbreak, if it happens.

Medical professionals say the state is not only abysmally short of isolation wards, ICU beds and ventilators, but also barely 7 per cent of the doctors and nurses are trained to use life-saving equipment.

The Haryana chapter of Indian Medical Association (IMA), a body of qualified allopathic doctors, fears that the state health services are ill-prepared for an outbreak of Covid, if it happens.

“We need to increase the number of beds in isolation wards and ICUs, acquire more ventilators and provide protective gear to the doctors and paramedics fighting battle against the infection,” said Prabhakar Sharma, president of the Haryana chapter of the IMA.

Dr Sarika Verma, an ENT surgeon from Gurugram, has written an open letter to Home Minister Anil Vij, emphasising the need for a more proactive approach to fight Covid in the state. Whenever the lockdown opens partially or completely, life will come back to normal. When it does, we will face a surge in number of Covid patients, she has warned.

The ENT surgeon has suggested steps like starting fever clinics, arranging more test kits and isolation beds in hotels on pay-per-use basis. “I implore you, Health Minister, please move mountains to prepare our state for all eventualities,” she wrote. Vij, however, said enough was being done.