KOCHI: Risking infection, but undeterred in their determination to provide succour to their patients, the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers in the state have been toiling day and night to keep the Covid pandemic in check. Dr T K Jayarajan, a neurologist with Ernakulam Medical Centre Hospital, Kochi, is one such doctor. He, along with his team, contracted the virus after performing an emergency surgery on an elderly Covid patient, who had suffered a brain hemorrhage while undergoing treatment in the ICU.
“He was not my patient. It was quite late when I got the call from the hospital and I rushed to the scene. We had to perform the surgery immediately, or it would have led to more complications. The surgery started at 2am and lasted for three hours, after which the patient became stable. I started to develop Covid symptoms after a week, and I tested positive along with my team of five who assisted the surgery, including nurses and other staff,” he said.
It was on June 20 that Dr Jayarajan tested positive. Though he was under quarantine, his entire family -- including his wife and two children -- were diagnosed with the infection subsequently. “For two weeks, we were under home treatment. My wife had a slight breathing difficulty, besides which everything went fine. Thankfully, we didn’t have any complications that required hospitalisation,” said Dr Jayarajan. He recovered from the disease on July 1.
According to the doctor, though healthcare workers are fully kitted in PPE and protective gear, surgeries still involve major risks. “In the case of neurosurgery and orthopedics, aerosols are emitted when we cut open bones or the skull cap, which causes the transmission,” he explained.Around 20-30% of hospital staff in the state continue to fall prey to Covid infections, even after taking the first or both doses of the vaccine. The late-night shifts and need to stay away from their families and dear ones for their safety also simultaneously take a toll on their lives.
“I was infected with Covid in March. I was glad my family was away in Kannur at my wife’s place. Both my children are very young. One is a toddler. If they were here, it would have been very stressful. I got quarantined at my home. My family came back only after I recovered from the infection, after two weeks,” said a pulmonologist who works at a major hospital in Kochi.