We clapped for them and showered them with flowers using Indian Air Force choppers but the situation on the ground did not change much for corona warriors.
It’s nearly six months since the doctors, paramedical staff, and other health workers are rendering their services without caring for their lives since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many doctors and medical staff have laid down their lives while treating COVID-19 patients.
The frontline workers including the healthcare workers, police and civic officials faced numerous attacks in the line of duty and many of them lost their lives too. With such sacrifices for six months in a row, the big question staring at us today is whether we have truly honoured our corona warriors? Have the governments kept their promises in taking care of them and their families?
The latest indication suggests that the frontline workers are not happy with the measures taken for them by the government. In a fresh development, 80 medical staff have resigned from Pune’s jumbo COVID facility situated at Pune College of Engineering in just two weeks. These resignations suggest the frustration and disappointment of the COVID warriors as they did not get their due despite hard work.
The massive dedicated COVID care facility was opened on August 25 in Pune. The mass exodus of doctors and healthcare staff has raised concerns among people. Of the 80 people who have tendered their resignations, 40 of them are doctors, a crucial link in the fight against COVID. This has come as a rude shock for the patients and their families.
Around 300 patients are admitted at this mass facility, the responsibility of which has fallen on the shoulders of just 35 per cent staff.
Lifeline, an agency managing the healthcare staff, has blamed threats by political workers among other reasons for their resignations. The Pune civic body has blamed the agency for failing to fulfil its promises made to the health workers.
The civic body had found several irregularities at the COVID facility after a journalist died of coronavirus. A total of 122 staff including 50 doctors and 72 nurses were appointed as the facility was commissioned in August. Now, 80 of them have resigned-40 doctors and 40 nurses.
With so many resignations, a blame game has begun between the agency and Pune civic body. While the agency says the staff had safety concerns, the civic body blamed the agency for not delivering sufficient staff. Now, there are only 42 medical staff to attend to 300 COVID patients. The facility has already reported 27 deaths in two weeks.
Pune has become a hotspot of COVID cases in the country with nearly 5,000 cases per day. The jumbo facility in Pune was built after a lack of beds at the hospitals. Currently, there are 350 operational beds out of the proposed 800 beds. The medical staff resigned claiming they had faced pressure and threats and abusive behaviour from political workers. With all the mess facing this facility, the Pune Municipal Corporation has assured a fresh appointment of 190 medical staff.
As the COVID cases rise across the country, it’s high time that the governments keep an eye on the needs and concerns of the corona warriors and fend off any threats to their safety. We can not wish to defeat the deadly virus without their support and total dedication and hence the need to take care of concerns.
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