City hospitals pad up to guard against infection
At least three hospitals have armed their health workers with the full protective gear and have appointed nurses who attend only to Covid patients. One of the hospitals has even decided to levy an extra charge for the protective gear. Even though the current strain has so far triggered mild infections, it could be dangerous for the elderly with comorbidities, and children, doctors said.
Peerless Hospital now has two Covid patients — a 15-year-old boy and a 72-year-old man— who are kept in separate single-bed rooms in an isolated area.
"Two nurses are attending to each, and they wear full PPE. They are not attending to other patients. Doctors, too, are wearing protective gear while attending to Covid patients, though, unlike the pandemic time, they are attending to other patients as well," said Peerless Hospital CEO Sudipta Mitra.
Peerless Hospital had PPEs in stock, said Mitra, adding: "Since this involves extra cost, we have decided to charge Rs 200-Rs 250 a day for the gear.
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RN Tagore International Institute of Cardiac Sciences (RTIICS), which has one Covid patient, has given PPEs to doctors and nurses attending to Covid patients. "We are using a version that has no face shield but a mask," said RTIICS intensivist Sauren Panja.
Manipal Hospitals, which have maintained adequate stockpiles of PPE and other essential safety supplies as part of a standard preparedness protocol, now has four Covid patients.
"Our healthcare workers are fully equipped to handle Covid cases, including the use of appropriate protective gear. We have also reinstated RT-PCR testing facilities across our hospitals. While testing was scaled down after the pandemic, our diagnostic teams have maintained the readiness to resume testing at short notice," said Tanmay Banerjee, senior consultant and director of critical care, Medica Superspeciality Hospital, a part of Manipal Hospitals.
Ruby General Hospital tested two Covid positives in the last week and admitted one. "Nurses attending to them wear a protective gown used during the pandemic. Doctors will wear masks but not PPEs unless numbers rise," said Ruby Hospital general manager - operations Subhashish Datta.
BP Poddar Hospital has an adequate inventory of N95 masks, gowns, gloves, face shields, and PPE kits. Healthcare workers at Desun Hospital have been provided protective gear to attend to Covid patients. "We maintain a robust stock of all essential protective equipment to ensure the safety of our patients," said Shaoli Dutta, group director, Desun Hospital.
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