COVID-19: Health Secy Removed, Nurses Protest Demanding Increase in Workforce

As COVID-19 cases continue to escalate in Tamil Nadu, it is exposing the failure in controlling mechanisms. With growing criticism of the shortcomings in handling the pandemic, the state government in a move to save its face, shunted out the secretary of Health and Family Welfare Department this morning. The discrepancies in death toll, shortage of staff in exclusive COVID-19 hospitals and uncertainty over another lockdown in Chennai continue to haunt the government. 

The number of senior citizens getting infected and the number of people below the age of less than 60 without co-morbidities succumbing to the infection have increased the complexity of the situation. 

In a first, a sitting member of Assembly, J Anbazhagan of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam  (DMK) succumbed to the infection on June 10. 

DAILY SPIKE RECORD BROKEN ALMOST EVERYDAY IN THE WEEK

The state recorded a total of 11,460 cases in the one week period ending on June 11, taking the total tally to 38,716. The previous seven-day period had registered a total of 7,884 cases. The total discharges, too, increased to 20,705, keeping the active cases at 17,659, well below 50% of the total positive cases. The week also saw massive single day spikes, with 1,927 positive cases on June 10. 

The number of people above the age of 60 contracting the infection also rose by 1,583 during the last seven days to 4,295. As per the daily bulletin, the number of deaths in the age group above 60 is also increasing as 79 persons have succumbed in the last week compared to 48 deaths in the previous week. 

Even as the mortality rate remains as low as 0.8%, the number of deaths increased by 129 this week, the highest in a seven-day period. 

The number of deaths in just 11 days of June (176 deaths) is more than the number of deaths till May 31 (173 deaths). 

The discrepancies in the number of deaths, if resolved, would be almost double than the official figures.

Meanwhile, the secretary of Health and Family Welfare Dr Beela Rajesh was shunted out and Dr Radha Krishnan was appointed as principal secretary to the government. He has earlier held the portfolio and was appointed as special officer for COVID-19 activities. 

COMMUNITY SPREAD IN CHENNAI REJECTED

The Chief Minister Edapadi K Palaniswami rejected the claims of community spread in Chennai, while the number of positive cases rose to 27,398. The week added 8,604 cases while the previous week contributed 5,892 cases. More than 1,100 cases have been reported in the last seven days consecutively with June 11 registering 1,406 cases. 

The viral infection in north and central Chennai regions have thrown the administration out of gear, as the containment measures have ended up in disaster. The stagnant testing numbers also add to the agony, even as the experts have demanded for a minimum of 10,000 tests in Chennai alone. In another bizarre announcement, the commissioner of GCC said that if a person undergoes rt-PCR test, the whole family would be isolated.  

The mortality rate in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is 1%, compared to 0.8% in the state. The DMK strongman, J Anbazhagan also succumbed to the infection, making him the first people’s representative to die of the infection.

Even as the cases continue to increase, the shortcomings in the health sector are coming to the fore, damaging the tall claims of the government. 

FRONTLINE WORKERS CONTINUE TO GET INFECTED

The members from the police and health department continue to contract the infection as they feel the additional pressure of working for extended days. Around 20 people, including doctors and post graduate students, and two chiefs of the Institute of Anaesthesiology have tested positive, after being made to work in the COVID-19 wards.

The staff of the Organised Crime Intelligence Unit suffered the same fate. Three deputy superintendents of police tested positive and are under isolation. As many as 530 police personnel have been infected, with 62 rejoining duty after recovering. 

The spread among such sectors exposes the lack of preventive measures, precautions and vigorous testing.

NURSES PROTEST DEMANDING MORE WORKFORCES

The nurses of the exclusive COVID-19 hospital, Omandurar Medical College held a protest on June 10. They demanded more workforce as they are encountering tiring work ever since the COVID-19 infection was first reported in the state. Some of the nurses, though the number has not been confirmed yet, also tested positive. 

The major allegation was the workload, around 20-23 nurses were working where 400 patients were admitted. Only after the nurses decided to strike work, the government woke up and deputed 20 nurses immediately from non-COVID-19 hospitals. Another 190 nurses were also offered appointments. 

With the epidemiologists from the state-run Dr MGR medical university predicting as much as 1.5 lakh cases by mid July, the government needs to gear up the process of improving the infrastructure.

NON-AVAILABILITY OF BEDS

The government has been claiming the availability of 5,200 beds in Chennai for COVID-19 admissions. But the details show only less than 50% of the beds are being allotted. As the number of active cases is beyond 17,000, the number of beds occupied is a paltry 2,690. Other asymptomatic patients, majority of which are youth, are isolated in centres. This raises severe doubts over the number of beds claimed by the government of Tamil Nadu.  

The government was quick to act and filed a case when a former TV anchor, Varadharajen accused the non-availability of beds for a friend of his who had tested positive. The former anchor later refuted his claims and released another video appreciating the government for the crisis management. Several other Twitter users too joined him in claiming the difficulty they faced in getting beds. 

The sequence of events exposes the limitations in the actions taken by the government of Tamil Nadu and the health department. The government instead of resorting to knee-jerk actions needs to establish a protocol and contain the spread at the earliest.