17 days into third Covid wave, doctors already stretched

They are asked to deliver medical kits to patients or supply medicines
A health worker collects swab samples of a man in Bengaluru on Saturday.
A health worker collects swab samples of a man in Bengaluru on Saturday.

BENGALURU: It’s just 17 days since the third wave was announced, with the rising cases of home isolation the doctors and staffers deployed on home isolation duty are already feeling the burden and have taken no time to state that they are over stretched.

Doctors who spoke to The New Indian Express said that they have been working over 12 hours a day. That is not all, the doctors are also being asked to deliver medical kits to patients or supply medicines, apart from their visits to home for triaging and check ups. This they state is becoming an additional burden as the cases have just started to rise.

“Normally our shift is for eight hours, but due to rising cases we are working for over 12 hours. I am on the field with medical kits and attending to patients. The other staffers are not keen to supply medical kits as they fear contracting the virus. So we doctors are only forced to supply the medical kits. Each of us are handling a minimum of 250 cases and some of us are handling 750 cases in each ward,” said Jayaram, a doctor working with BBMP.

Another doctor seeking anonymity said, apart from handling the cases assigned to us, we also get calls from the control room, when a triaging complaint or health condition complaint is reported. We have to set make way from our routine work and attend to that also. This is another additional burden as it only increases the case load.

To address the issue of rising cases, BBMP and health department have placed orders for eight lakh more home isolation medical kits, Each kit is also now having a medical prescription attached with it, with the dosage and list of medicines to be taken and when. The prescription and medication is generic, unless a patient reports of other symptoms and has any other medical attention.

Also now to reduce the burden on doctors, the government has decided that home visits will be done based on need and case. Categories have been made for triaging and visits- those aged above 60, those with more symptoms, those needing immediate medical attention, those aged above 30 years and those below 30 years of age.

Pankaj Kumar Pandey, nodal officer, home isolation said that an agency- Step One, has been roped in to arrange for more staff. As each case is important, attention is being paid through tele- triaging at first and based on the condition, the next course of action is decided.

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The New Indian Express
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