A Facebook post by the District Collector, Thrissur, that the district administration would tide over the situation of health sector human resource shortage by utilising the services of those health-care workers who are COVID-positive but are asymptomatic, for running the first line treatment centres in the district, has invited the wrath of the medical fraternity.
In a statement here on Tuesday, Kerala Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA) termed the decision as “inhuman” and a violation of basic human rights. Even when it is true that most of the COVID-positive patients are asymptomatic, there are several reports about how patients can suddenly go into a life-threatening state due to the drop in oxygen saturation or sudden cardiac issues.
Information about how SARS CoV-2 virus affects the human body and the extent of damage it can wreak is still emerging, the statement said.
Overworked
Doctors and health-care workers are already overworked, most of them having been working on the front lines without a proper break since the past six months. Allowing them time for proper and recuperation when they are sick should be the normal course of action
It is not only unscientific but also inhuman to propose that even when they are sick, health-care workers should not be allowed any rest and that they should be made use of, the KGMOA said in its statement
While the post has since been withdrawn by the District Collector, the KGMOA has written to the government to take steps on a war footing to organise additional personnel to manage the pandemic which has taken a toll on the health system and the health-care workers across the State.
With the government opening more first line treatment centres in panchayats, scant attention is being paid to the human resources to run these centres, the KGMOA said.
