Can screening of patients be an option to save healthcare professionals?

A substantial number of healthcare professionals are getting infected with the deadly COVID-19 disease and a significantly alarming number of such professionals are succumbing to death all over the world. Bangladesh is not an exception. According to Bangladesh Doctors Foundation (BDF), the underlying reasons include the concealment of information by the patients before availing treatment or life-saving procedures. As has been time and again mentioned by the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is also the risk for healthcare professionals (like anyone else) of coming into sustained contact of people who are asymptomatic. Therefore, it is not always the knowing concealment of information regarding symptoms, rather the unknowing spread of viruses when the patients themselves are unaware of being infected and not showing symptoms.

This at present is a global crisis and countries all over the world are doing certain things that are replicable as well as admirable. In order to contain transmission of coronavirus from patients to doctors, the Delhi Government undertook to enact an Order for testing or screening symptomatic patients for COVID-19 before they undergo required surgeries. This Order was admirable; however, was inconsistent with the international practice of getting every individual tested (regardless of them showing symptoms) before surgeries for ensuring the safety of the healthcare professionals.

Citing this inconsistency, a writ petition was filed with the Delhi High Court by a Delhi based surgeon. Submissions were made before the Court on how and why screening of both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients was necessary before admitting them to emergency surgeries. The Court, upon hearing out the submissions made by both the parties, concurred with the petitioner and decided in favour of getting every patient tested prior to their being admitted to emergency surgery.

The situation of Bangladesh and India is more or less on par, when it comes to the risks of COVID-19 transmission, given the density of population of both the country, coupled with the unawareness of mass people in general. In this backdrop, if Government could adopt a policy of screening patients before admitting them to surgeries, it could play a significant life-saving role for the healthcare professionals since surgeries result in sustained contact between patients and healthcare professionals and contribute to the transmission of the virus.

From Law Desk.