NEW DELHI: More number of healthcare workers employed at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi are falling prey to the novel coronavirus.
At present 479 healthcare workers from AIIMS, includes faculty, residents, nursing staffs, attendants, sanitation and security staffs have tested positive for COVID-19.
Out of those infected with the contagious virus, two are faculty members, 17 are resident doctors, 38 nursing staffs, 74 security staffs, 74 hospital attendants, 54 sanitation staffs, 14 lab technicians and about 193 other staffs.
However, according to AIIMS administration, 329 are the healthcare workers who have been infected and the rest are the family members and kin of them who have also tested positive. Sources said around six of the infected workers are those assigned in COVID-19 ward and the number of positive cases are likely to increase furthermore.
“Majority of the infections are from outside the campus…staffs who have come from containment areas or got infected from another source. However, in a situation when cases are shifting towards community transmission, it is very difficult to estimate or trace down where are the cases coming from. We are taking all measures to ensure fewer HCWs are affected,” said an official from the administration.
Earlier, veteran pulmonologist Dr JN Pande, sanitation supervisor and a mess worker from RPC Canteen at AIIMS succumbed to the virus.
On Wednesday, the Nurses Union at AIIMS staged a protest near the Director’s chamber for the third day and claimed to go on strike from June 15 if their issues are not considered.
“We had already conveyed the plights of our COVID warriors since the beginning through a multitude of letters and regular representation in task force meeting. We have been forced to resort to severe steps including mass Casual Leave on June 10 and still, our issues persist, we have decided to go for indefinite strike from June 15,” said Fameer CK, general secretary, Nurses’ Union.