The issue of lack of safety equipment for field staff on COVID-19 duty has come to the fore with an anganwadi worker on medical surveillance duty testing positive in Belagavi district.
Rakesh Singh, Additional Chief Secretary of the Department of Women and Child Development, confirmed that the anganwadi worker was among those who tested positive on Saturday.
The worker had surveyed 94 houses, including the house of Patient 128. These workers have been visiting containment zones and buffer zones, identifying and testing persons for traces of infection. However, the government has not provided them with Personal Protection Equipment, N95 mask, head gear, or gloves.
“We have information that our anganwadi worker on COVID-19 duty has contracted the virus as she was working without proper safety equipment,” said Gaibu Jainekhan, convener of the District Angandwadi and ASHA Workers’ Union. He said that the union had appealed to the government to provide safety kits, masks, gloves, and head gear to all workers. “We have also demanded that anganwadi and ASHA workers be provided with the ₹50 lakh insurance that the government has announced for doctors on duty,” he said.
4 policemen affected
A similar issue haunts the police personnel as four of them have tested positive in Bagalkot. One of them contracted the virus while on duty. He was quarantined in a guesthouse along with some other staff from his station. It has now spread to three others.
They are all isolated in the district designated hospital and are responding to treatment.
Shamanna Bavagi, president of Anyaya Viruddha Horata Samiti and Police Naukarara Kalyan Sangha, has urged the government to provide PPE kits for police on COVID duty.
Inspector-General of Police (Northern Tange) Raghavendra Suhas said that safety equipment like masks and gloves had been given to all personnel on COVID-19 duty.
“However, they may not be using them properly. They may also be not using in areas which they think are not infected like a non-containment zone or areas near their house. They may not be using at all times, or they may not be changing the masks often. These could have led to the problem,” he said.
