BackCovid-19: Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital seeks doctors’ WhatsApp groups details
Currently, 48 people are admitted to the hospital, with 20 of them being confirmed patients So far, 445 cases have tested positive in Delhi, with a surge seen this week on account of a large cluster of patients from Tablighi Jamaat
PremiumNEW DELHI: The management of Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, which has become one of the main centres to treat coronavirus patients, has asked for details of doctors who are admins of WhatsApp groups, among other hospital staff, to curb misinformation and adverse comments among the staff.
“This is required to prevent spreading of any fake news, rumour or any other adverse comments/statements on social media or in the institution by any hospital or college staff," Prem Kumar, additional medical superintendent of the hospital, wrote in a letter to the hospital staff.
Mint has seen a copy of the letter dated Friday.
The letter followed certain misinformation that was spreading among the hospital staff, especially about salary deduction due to the lockdown, two doctors at the hospital said.
“The reason for the letter was just to curb the spread of any fake news or rumour that may be going around in the campus, and such a news had come a few days back that five days salary would be cut from everyone’s account on account of covid-19. So that turned out to be fake news," Joyutpal Biswas, member of Safdarjung Hospital’s Resident Doctors’ Association (RDA), told Mint.
Biswas said the move is not aimed to reduce any communication with general public, or to stop doctors from voicing their complaints if there are any, allaying concerns that the letter was written to prevent doctors from creating scare about any possible shortage of personal protective equipment (PPEs), among others.
“PPEs have been limited. I would not say inadequate. They are being prioritised in areas where covid-19 patients are being seen. Actually, PPEs should be used only in high-risk areas where we have aerosol generating procedures, taking samples for covid-19 or looking at patients with unknown history," Biswas said.
Currently, 48 are admitted to Safdarjung hospital, with 20 of them being confirmed patients of covid-19 and the rest being high-risk suspected ones.
Delhi has 423 confirmed patients who are undergoing treatment. So far, a total of 445 cases have tested positive in the national capital, with a surge seen this week on account of a large cluster of patients from Tablighi Jamaat, an Islamic evangelist group, which held an event at Nizamuddin mid-March.
India so far has more than 3,300 confirmed cases, with 266 being discharged and 77 succumbing to the disease.
Due to the sharp rise in the number of cases this week, especially on account of the Nizamuddin event, the government on Saturday came up with a containment strategy, wherein testing would be scaled up and active surveillance for cases and contacts will be conducted in areas identified as hotspots for the disease.
A controversial part of the strategy is to provide the drug hydroxychloroquine to all asymptomatic healthcare workers and asymptomatic household contacts of laboratory confirmed cases.
The drug, which is an anti-malarial medicine, has been repurposed for the treatment of covid-19 without sufficient clinical data. Some health experts have raised concerns over the drug's effect on cardiac patients.
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