COVID-19 outbreak: 440 doctors, 111 nurses and 215 paramedics infected so far
May 11, 2020
KARACHI: An increasing number of healthcare professionals across the country have started testing positive for the novel coronavirus in the past few days, with at least 257 confirmed infections among doctors and paramedics between May 5 and May 9, The News reported on Monday.
The increase has left officials worried about the treatment of virus patients at tertiary-care hospitals and the care of serious or critical cases related to the virus at facilities across the country. 11 health professionals have so far lost their life to the deadly virus in Pakistan.
Another worrisome trend is that several doctors, nurses and paramedic staff have been putting themselves into self-isolation or quarantine on a daily basis after someone they came into contact with tests positive for the coronavirus, The News claimed.
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'Eighteen at Ruth Pfau hospital test positive'
“Eighteen staff members of Karachi’s only specialised burns centre at the Dr Ruth KM Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi have tested positive for COVID-19 and have been asked to go into self-isolation,” an official of the federal health ministry told The News on Sunday.
“They include the staff that disinfects the equipment and bandages, several male and female dressers and other essential staff as well as two qualified doctors. If this trend of infection among healthcare providers continues in the coming days, the centre would be closed for seriously burnt patients," the official added.
“Every day, two to three dozen healthcare providers are contracting the coronavirus from their patients throughout the country, while in some cases, healthy patients have acquired the infection from healthcare workers,” the official maintained.
'Heading towards a disaster'
“Several wards at different public and private hospitals in the country have been closed. This is very alarming, and if this trend continues, we are heading towards a disaster," the official remarked.
According to The News, the sense of panic and fear among the healthcare professionals is increasing as 11 of them have so far lost their life to the virus across Pakistan. Five of these have been identified as doctors, one as a nurse, and the remaining as paramedical staff.
“As many as 766 healthcare providers — 440 doctors, 111 nurses and 215 paramedics and other support staff — have been infected [until May 9] and forced to live in home isolation or are under treatment at hospitals,” said the official.
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'Dozens waiting for test results'
“We have seen 257 healthcare providers contracting the disease during the last one week, which is an extremely alarming situation. 144 of the 766 of health workers caught the virus at critical care facilities."
The official added that many others contracted the virus in wards, outpatient departments and other clinics. The figure of healthcare providers affected across the country is 766 so far, the official said.
"One of the healthcare providers is on life support at the moment and a large majority of them and many of their contacts are in isolation, while dozens of others are waiting for their test results," the official noted.
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KP worst-affected from the virus for health workers
“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the worst-hit with respect to the number of healthcare providers infected with the coronavirus as 186 have tested positive there, followed by 184 in Punjab, 149 in Sindh, 138 in Balochistan, 83 in the Islamabad Capital Territory [ICT], 22 in Gilgit-Baltistan and four in Azad Jammu & Kashmir [AJK],” said the official.
Providing a breakdown of the numbers, the official said that of the 440 infected doctors, most (122) were from KP, followed by 97 from Balochistan, 90 from Sindh, 85 from Punjab, 43 from the ICT, two from GB and one from AJK.
The highest number of the 111 nurses infected with COVID-19 are in Punjab (46), followed by 22 in the ICT, 20 in KP, 18 in Sindh, four in Balochistan and one in GB, added the official.
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'163 health workers have recovered from virus'
Similarly, said the official, the highest number of the 215 infected paramedics and support staff are also in Punjab (53), followed by 44 in KP, 41 in Sindh, 37 in Balochistan, 19 in GB, 18 in the ICT and three in AJK.
The official said that 220 healthcare providers afflicted with COVID-19 are undergoing treatment at hospitals at the moment, while one of them is on life support. “At 114, Sindh has the highest number of healthcare providers hospitalised, followed by 89 in Punjab, eight in KP, six in GB and three in the ICT.”
A total of 163 healthcare providers have also recovered from COVID-19 and are performing duties at their respective healthcare facilities in the country, said the official.
Originally published in The News
