Cong seeks Centre's intervention to ensure sufficient PPE kits for doctors, healthcare workers

Expressing concern over the growing number of doctors and nurses contracting coronavirus while treating patients, the Congress on Monday sought the Centre's urgent intervention to ensure sufficient availability of personal protective equipment (PPE) kits for healthcare workers.

In a letter to Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said clusters of transmission have been reported in hospitals in Mumbai and Delhi and underscored the need to ensure healthcare workers are provided protective gears like masks and hazmat suits.

"In many instances, the healthcare workers got infected while attending to patients without securing themselves with personal protective equipment," he said.

"It is deeply regrettable that they have been exposed to greater danger during this time of crisis, even as they were dedicating their life for saving ordinary Indians.

"While the collective expression of gratitude to the health workers is the need of the hour, the utmost obligation to guarantee personal protective equipment to the health workers should not be neglected by the government," he added.

The senior Congress leader urged the Centre to take immediate steps to ensure government and private hospitals have sufficient PPE kits.

"Urgent measures need to be taken to implement protective protocol to avoid such cluster transmission among the health workers. Any failure in this direction would have a catastrophic impact on our collective fight against the COVID-19 transmission and treatment," he said.

Reportedly, hospitals across the country are facing shortages of PPE kits, forcing doctors to use raincoats and helmets for protection while treating COVID-19 patients.

India plans to import medical gears from China to tide over the shortage, according to reports.

Venugopal also sought urgent measures to deal with the increasing number of coronavirus infections and casualties among Non-Resident Indians (NRI) living abroad.

The absence of rapid testing and immediate access to the health facilities has put their lives in imminent danger, he claimed.

He asked the health minister to coordinate with the Indian Embassies abroad to trace the affected NRIs and facilitate access to health facilities.

Venugopal said proper control rooms should be set up and emergency medical teams constituted in the embassies to coordinate with the respective governments to provide urgent medical care to the people in need.

The number of coronavirus cases in India climbed to 4,281 on Monday and the death toll rose to 111, according to the Union Health Ministry.