COVID-19: Assam private hospitals apprehend shortage of doctors and nurses

RISING GRAPH OF CORONA CASES

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Private hospitals will face shortage of doctors and nurses in case the curve of COVID-19 infection cases continues to rise in the next 15 days.

The chief Executive officer of Ayursundra Super Specialty Hospital, Manoj Deka told The Sentinel that his hospital is currently treating more than 100 COVID-19 patients, adding that many more patients are on the waiting list.

"Even though we are using the best symptomatic treatment for all the patients, there is a high risk of doctors and nurses getting infected while taking care of the patients. Going by a conservative estimate there is possibility of 10 out of every 100 nurses getting infected. The load of COVID patients is increasing daily. Under such circumstances, we are apprehensive of facing shortage of doctors and nurses in the coming days," said Deka.

He urged the State Government to create a pool of adequate nursing and paramedical staffs. He also said that his hospital has already chalked out contingency plans when the number of patients would go rise abruptly.

Besides treating the newly infected COVID patients, his hospital is also receiving patients with severe post-COVID complications such as lung fibrosis.

Similar is the situation with the other private hospitals. An official of GNRC Hospitals said that even though the hospital is trying to accommodate the maximum number of COVID-19 patients, it is constrained by various limitations including manpower.

"If the number of COVID-19 positive cases does not stabilize or decline, the flow of new patients will continue. But the number of doctors and nurses will continue to remain the same. So, we are heading towards a difficult situation," pointed out a doctor at Apollo International Hospital here.

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