Twenty doctors treating COVID-19 patients have died so far in West Bengal, including nine in August, according to associations of health workers and doctors. The state lost three doctors on Monday. Among the doctors who lost their lives is cardiologist Dr Tapan Singha of the Kothari Medical Centre.
A COVID-19 patient needed an echocardiogram, but no one was willing to go to the ward. So, Dr Singha himself went to the ward. After being sick for three days, he died yesterday. Associations of doctors have expressed their concern over the situation. Association of Health Service Doctors’ general secretary Dr Manas Goomta regretted that it was expected that doctors treating COVID patients ran the risk of being infected with corona. He said it should be ensured that they get the best of treatment after falling sick. Sick doctors are, too, facing difficulty in getting admitted due to government hospitals because of non-availability of beds. They are forced to go to private hospitals where the high bills are a burden on their families.
“If some of the doctors become inactive it wouldn’t be a surprise”, Dr Goomta added. West Bengal Doctors’ Forum secretary Dr Kaushik Chaki demanded that a special hospital be built for doctors affected by corona. Expect for the first two doctors who died of the disease treating corona patients the rest are yet to receive any compensation from the State Government. He referred to the plight of the family of the 36-year old doctor Nitish Kumar who died of the corona. Late Dr Kumar’s wife is in mental stress as her two-year-old son also infected, Dr Chaki added.
State Health Secretary Swarup Nigam claimed that a hospital only for health workers and doctors would be built soon. According to Dr Santanu Sen, secretary, IMA, West Bengal branch, doctors treating COVID patients carry a high viral load, and this leads to fast deterioration of their health.
