Amid coronavirus outbreak, Goa doctors threaten strike over room sharing

Resident doctors of two Covid-19 facilities in Goa have threatened to go on a strike if an order asking them to share rooms is not withdrawn

Residents doctors of two COVID-19

facilities in Goa on Saturday threatened to go on strike if an order asking them to share rooms was not withdrawn.

GARD president Dr Pratik Sawant wrote to Goa medical College and Medical Hospital dean saying resident doctors would stop providing services if single occupancy rooms were not given in South Goa District Hospital (SDGH) and ESI, the two premier COVID-19 treatment centres in the state.

The administration wants to shift the accommodation of doctors to twin-sharing rooms in Margao Residency, which is being used by the state government amid the outbreak, and the same arrangement is being made in Colva Residency in south Goa as well, Sawant claimed.

Twin sharing will increase the risk of infection and therefore the order must be withdrawn, he said.