{"id":25943,"date":"2020-04-08T19:11:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T15:11:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/?p=25943"},"modified":"2020-04-08T19:12:10","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T15:12:10","slug":"protection-of-our-soldiers-against-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mauritiustimes.com\/mt\/protection-of-our-soldiers-against-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"Protection of our soldiers against Covid-19"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Dr P. Ramdaursingh<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>If you don\u2019t sacrifice for what you want, what you want will become the sacrifice.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u2014 Jay Shetty, via twitter.com<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Spanish flu pandemic killed around 50 million people, exceeding the number of people and soldiers killed during World Wars I and II. The frontliners were the soldiers, ones most at risk of dying. But at least they could see their enemy. The frontliners against Covid-19 are health care workers who face an invisible enemy. Thousands of them \u2013 physicians, nurses, paramedics — have already got infected by their patients, and hundreds have died. The first victim was Dr Li Wenliang, the ophthalmologist in Wuhan who raised the alarm against coronavirus.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

To date, Covid-19 has claimed around 65,000 lives, despite drastic actions worldwide: lockdowns, mass quarantines, travel restrictions, etc.<\/span><\/p>\n

The statistics are frightening. Across China more than 3300 health care workers have been infected as of early March and, by the end of February, at least 22 had died. In Italy, the virus had infected more than 5000 doctors, nurses, technicians, ambulance staff and other health employees, with 41 deaths. The majority were on the frontline in the badly affected northern regions around Lombardy; they contracted the illness at the start of the outbreak when protective equipment was lacking; this happened in Wuhan too.<\/span><\/p>\n

More than 3900 health care workers (HCWs) in Spain are reported to be infected. Worldwide, including Mauritius, there is panic and the public are not strictly following the official guidelines and rules. People are loitering around uselessly and the police have limited capacity to take required actions. Government is at a loss, changing strategies every now and then, and is unable to foster trust in the public. Despite the uncertainty and instability HCWs are continuing their battle but seem to have been forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their weapons are limited: regular washing of hands, self-isolation when mandated, social distancing, avoiding crowded areas; and if symptoms aggravate to contact their colleagues in hospitals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Access to personal protective equipment for HCWs is a serious concern. Even developed countries like the UK and USA report extreme shortages, and the situation is worse in parts of the developing world which may be most hit by the pandemic. Many HCWs are forced to put themselves at risk, managing patients using sub-standard equipment. HCWs are overstretched, with no end in sight working in an under-protected, stressful and frightening environment, making them very vulnerable to infection.<\/span><\/p>\n

If they are not adequately protected, they will end up becoming patients. The following measures will greatly help these soldiers, our \u2018Corona warriors\u2019:<\/span><\/p>\n

Establish triage areas and source control<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n