They Battle A Virus With Little Protection

DPH staff do not get the benefit of rotational duty and toil away with inadequate safety gear

- Serena Josephine M.

“I am exhausted. Many of us here have been working daily for the past one month, without a break,” a doctor attached to a primary health centre said.

“We are involved in containment activities. But the masks that we have been given are of poor quality. While some districts have received N95 masks, our block has not got the supply yet. We have had less than 10 personal protective equipment kits for the past two weeks,” said another doctor attached to a mobile medical unit.

“Our village health nurses (VHN) have no proper protective gear and are worried as they carry out checks in areas where positive cases have been reported. We have no gloves and wear only disposable masks for door-to-door checks,” a nurse noted.