Kolkata docs given raincoats as protective wear, protest

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Kolkata:30.03.2020

Desperate times call for desperate innovations. Woefully short of personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors and other healthcare workers, Bengal health department has started arming them with raincoats at some places, including the Medical College Hospital and the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Kolkata, which are in the forefront of the Covid-19 fight.

A section of frontline healthcare workers have resented this. “If even one of us is infected, it will be a blow to the morale of the healthcare fraternity. Most of the PPE components are available and garments manufacturing units can produce them, like they did in China,” said a doctor.

However, virologist Amitabha Nandy said, “There is no harm in using plastic raincoats since the material is good and offers sound protection against viral contamination. But raincoats must be tailored to ensure that they cover the neck and upper portion of the shoulders that tend to remain exposed in the conventional ones,” he added.

“Given the scenario, we can improvise. Though not ideal, raincoats will provide some protection,” said Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhury, a microbiologist at Peerless Hospital.

Others, like Narayana Health medic Kaushik Chaki, felt using raincoats violated the WHO guidelines on PPE and put doctors at great risk. “You can’t ask doctors to wear raincoats while treating Covid-19 patients. If we get infected, the virus could be transmitted to hundreds of other patients across hospitals,” he said.

Full report on www.toi.in

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