This story is from September 16, 2020

Scarcity of doctors at Dist Covid Hosp in Haveri

Scarcity of doctors at Dist Covid Hosp in Haveri
Haveri: The District Covid Hospital, and Covid care centres (CCC) here are facing a shortage of specialist doctors to tackle Covid-19.
As per the Union government’s guidelines, specialist physicians and anaesthetists are mandatory at the Covid ward, but there are no specialists at the District Covid Hospital for the last four days. Due to a lack of specialists, most CCCs and taluk Covid hospitals, including the District Covid Hospital, are being run by ayurvedic doctors and staff nurses.

Some government and private eye specialists, ENT specialists, orthopaedics, gynaecologists and other specialists’ are working in the Covid ICU ward, however, the Covid general ward is facing a severe scarcity of doctors.
According to sources, a doctor visits the general ward once in two days. Staff nurses and ayurvedic doctors are treating Covid patients across Haveri district.
“On September 8, I was admitted at the District Covid Hospital after I tested positive for Covid-19. I was suffering from fever, cough, and had difficulty in breathing. No physician visited me and only ayurvedic doctors and staff nurses were monitoring the patients,” said a 37-year-old patient from Kesaralli village in Haveri taluk.
A 42-year-old Covid patient from Havanur village, who was admitted at the District Covid Hospital, said that a 70-year-old woman patient next to his bed, in the same ward, was suffering from severe breathing problems. “The staff tried to treat her to the best of their limitations, but the woman died at 3 am in front of me in the Covid ward due to lack of ventilator, and as she didn’t receive the care of a physician,” he said.
DHO Rajendra Doddamani admitted to the problem, and clarified that out of four physicians at the hospital, two have tested positive for Covid-19, and out of four anaesthetists, one of them has contracted Covid-19. “However, the shift is changed every six hours, so we have to manage four shifts with available expert doctors. Moreover, ayurvedic doctors and staff nurses are working effectively in Covid wards,” he said. “The chief minister assured in a recent video conference, that the government will deploy postgraduate medical students to the district. At least 10 doctors will be alloted to our district,” he said.
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