Scarcity of testing kits daunting for Barishal doctors

Patients with fever are thronging hospitals and diagnostic centres on a daily basis, especially as fear has gripped the nation while more and more people continue to show symptoms of Covid-19. The shortage of testing kits across the country has further fuelled speculations surrounding those who are falling sick. A recent report sheds light on the dire conditions doctors are facing in Barishal.

According to an emergency medical officer of Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) in Barishal, without testing, they cannot send patients to isolation wards as it may prove hazardous. However, failing to provide accurate diagnosis without conducting appropriate tests due to the shortage of testing kits, the doctors in Barishal are resorting to sending the "suspected" patients to isolation wards simply based on the symptoms shown by them. The report states that a total of 2,472 people are under home quarantine in the Barishal division. Currently, the isolation ward in SBMCH has 78 patients suffering from fever while many of them have reported dry cough and respiratory problems. It is yet to be confirmed who is infected by coronavirus and who is not.

Another grave concern for the doctors in Barishal, like elsewhere in the country, is the lack of personal protective equipment (PPE). The doctors in the medicine ward of SBMCH—the place for primary diagnosis, after which, depending on their condition, the patients are sent to the isolation ward—are at risk and distressed about the unavailability of basic masks, which they have been arranging for themselves. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that doctors' concerns regarding their safety have been raised.

Testing equipment as well as PPE are crucial during this time of crisis. As it is the season of different types of fever including the common flu, whose symptoms are similar to those of Covid-19, the right decision could be the difference between life and death for patients and doctors alike, and help prevent the spread of this contagion. Government intervention in this matter is of utmost importance. A special flight from China carrying 10,000 testing kits and 10,000 pieces of PPE landed in Dhaka on Thursday. The authorities should immediately allocate these crucial items in a sagacious manner so that they can be utilised most efficiently, wherever and whenever required. While Gonoshasthaya Kendra's timely initiative to provide affordable testing kits for the general public is surely a promise of hope, it will require some time. The government can provide the necessary backing to ensure the swiftness of operation in this regard. As the gravity of the threat continues to weigh heavily upon us all, we hope the government will extend its full support to the health care facilities grappling with the crisis.