COVID-19: Emphatic Messaging by Government Would Have Prevented Chaos, say Experts

New Delhi: The trials and tribulations of the medical fraternity, including students, seem to be never-ending in the fight against the COVID-19 outbreak.

In yet another incident, post-graduate students at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital have come out with a disturbing account that they were served only cooked rice after the mess at the hospital was closed owing to shortage of staff.

In the letter to the dean, the students alleged they were forced to work without food and water. The medical students were serving at two hospitals, Coimbatore Medical College Hospital and ESI Hospital.

But the story does not end here. When two of the serving students got infected with coronavirus, they approached the authorities to provide them hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug claimed to be effective in protecting doctors against the infection, in an official WhatsApp group. The students said they were removed from the group by none other than the Medical Superintendent of the hospital, T Sadagopalan.

While the appeal for hydroxychloroquinewas made by one students, but administration removed both from the group.

Meanwhile, a member of the group took a screen shot of the conversation and distributed it among the medical fraternity, causing widespread outrage.

When asked by media persons about the removal, the medical superintendent said he removed the students from the group to reserve it exclusively for teachers.

NewsClick reached one of the students, who said:“I do not know why I was removed. I had asked for the tablet because I had intense fever. The tablets were provided to me an hour later.” Miffed over such incidents exposing its ill-preparedness for handling the COVID-19 spread, the Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday issued prohibitory orders barring doctors from talking to the media.

A similar state of affairs is in Bihar where some doctors allege that they were still looking for supplies of PPE (personal protective equipment) kits. A doctor at Nalanda Medical College Hospital, who requested anonymity, said they were still functioning without proper gears, exposing them to a number of risks, some of which could even be fatal. He said: “We have adequate stock of hydroxychloroquine and other medicines but we are still awaiting for PPE kits particularly hazmat suits. The present gear is being used for collection of samples from patients, but the suits are essentials, particularly while serving patients in intensive care units.”

Asked if enough tests were being carried out, he said: “We are doing the tests for every patient visiting the hospital, but we do not know about asymptomatic patients. Many patients may not be visiting the hospital due to lockdown. I think we will get a true picture only when the lockdown is lifted and people have access to easy transportation.”

Such incidents are being reported across the country, exposing the knee-jerk reaction of some state governments to the unfolding health crisis. The first case of infection was reported on January 30 in Kerala. Meanwhile, China and Italy had already started to witness an “explosion” of cases. Sensing the gravity of the situation, the World Health Organisation on March 3 urged countries to ramp up the production of PPEs by 40%. It declared novel coronavirus a pandemic on March 11. Till that time, the government had no clue and did not procure enough PPE kits and export of essential PPEs continued till March 18.

Experts believe that the pandemic could have been contained, had the messaging by the government been more emphatic. The sudden lockdown that prompted an exodus of migrant workers to various parts of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, could have made matters worse.

Talking to NewsClick, T Sundaraman, Former Director, National Health Systems Resource Centre, said the government’s messaging took a wrong turn when it clubbed fear with the virus. He said, “the messaging was mixed with fear when the carrier of the virus was considered guilty even if it may not be his or her fault. While saying that social distancing is the best prevention method, the government should have made clear that an infected person should not be discriminated against. Second, the messaging came with religious overtones, particularly after the markaz incident, that if you are infected, the virus must have been brought by the other, who must penalised, arrested and jailed. Thus, this discouraged people to come out and present themselves to investigation.”

Asked if the government was doing enough to deal with the virus, Sundaraman said, “the problem is multi-pronged and there are no simple answers. The orders placed by India (for PPEs) were bought by America because it was ready to pay a higher price. Second, the local medical textile manufacturers could have been told, but the Centre simultaneously changed its trade policy surrendering completely to US. So, you rely completely on the imports for PPE kits and ventilators but it’s not coming any time soon.”

He further said that the “the government placed the orders in April. First, you see if the kits are of the required quality, then wait for shipments and eventually distribute. This takes at least two months. What we should have done 10 years ago is being expected to be done in two months now. It’s not going to happen.”

Digging holes into the government’s statement, Sundarama said: “Now, the government is suggesting we have created one lakh beds. How did they create this? By abandoning existing patients. So, the pandemic is an apt moment to rethink our approach to public health.”