Poor supply of PPE worries doctors
Many public hospitals across the country have set up isolation units for possible coronavirus patients, but a lot of them lack adequate resources and equipment to provide necessary services.
Visiting hospitals in 20 districts in the last three days, The Daily Star correspondents found that there were not enough safety gears for doctors and nurses. The physicians and nurses said they were worried about the risk of being infected themselves.
The medical staff there didn't receive training on how to deal with coronavirus patients. The authorities in those districts were not conducting public awareness activities either.
Take Infectious Disease Hospital in Rajshahi for an example. The hospital has set up a 10-bed unit for suspected novel coronavirus patients, but it does not have adequate logistics.
"We have eight sets of PPE [personal protective equipment] which were never used in the last five years. We are likely to have new ones soon," said Dr Mamun Kabir, in-charge of the hospital.
There was no N95 masks, gowns, gloves, specialised boots and sanitiser for the three doctors and 12 staff members of the hospital. None of them was trained on treating coronavirus patients, Mamum added.
Sabina Yasmin, a resident of Rajshahi's Charghat upazila, came to the hospital to visit an ailing relative. She said no awareness activities was carried out in her upazila about coronavirus.
"I have been visiting the hospital for the last three days, but nobody has talked to me about what to do and what not to," she told The Daily Star.
Visiting Faridpur Medical College Hospital on Tuesday, this newspaper found that its coronavirus isolation unit was locked.
"No coronavirus patient has been admitted to our hospital so far. That's why the unit is locked," said nurse Varoti Rani Saha.
She said they didn't receive any training or safety gears except a few sets of PPE.
Doctors in Cumilla Medical College Hospital said they didn't have sufficient safety gears. They also didn't get any PPE set.
During a visit to Saheed Shamsuddin Ahmed Hospital in Sylhet city's Chouhatta area on Tuesday, this newspaper found a doctor, three nurses and a staff member carrying out their duties at the emergency department. The physician was examining a couple from Sunamganj. The husband, who returned home from Italy on March 10, along with his wife went to the hospital as per instructions from the Sunamganj civil surgeon.
There was no safety gear for the doctors and nurses. They were using a glass thermometer to diagnose fever.
In Pabna, doctors were providing treatment to patients after recording the medical history of patients and spotting their symptoms.
Pabna Civil Surgeon Dr Mehedi Iqbal said, "A doctor first records the medical history of a patient. If the patient's symptoms seem to be alarming, the doctor would inform the IEDCR in Dhaka to collect blood sample of the patient for diagnosing the disease."
Dr Saleh Mohammed, consultant at medicine department of Pabna Medical College Hospital, said, "Doctors and hospital staff members always remain busy in giving service to many patients. We cannot entirely protect ourselves while dealing with patients."
Speaking to The Daily Star, Bogura Civil Surgeon Gaosul Azim Chowdhury said they didn't receive any PPE sets from the government until Tuesday.
In Barishal, the authorities have set up two isolation units at Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) and Barishal General Hospital. The units were kept locked until a suspected coronavirus patient was admitted to the unit at the SBMCH.
Both the isolation units are not equipped properly. The doctors don't have diagnosis equipment and PPE sets.
Our district correspondents in Nilphamari, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Joypurhat, Kushtia, Noakhali, Mymensingh, Bagerhat and Rangamati also saw similar pictures at the isolation units at public hospitals there.
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