Several doctors and medical staff in Tamil Nadu, who are closely working with patients suffering from the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, have alleged the lack of protective gear such as proper N-95 masks, The News Minute reported.
According to that report, which is further strengthened by a photograph, there is a notice board that has the message, “Everyone should wear their own face mask due to non-availability at government supply.”
Despite these messages, Tamil Nadu health minister Dr C Vijaybhaskar has said that there is false information circulating on social media about the lack of masks and protective gear.
Notably, the Tamil Nadu doctors are the second in the country who have addressed the lack of protective gear. The brother of a Haryana-based doctor created a Twitter profile in her name, and alleged that the Rohtak Hospital did not have sufficient protective gear while working with COVID-19 patients. While the Twitter profile was deleted a day later, there were two reports about the doctor actually clarifying her stance. In the first case, she admitted to Alt News founder Pratik Sinha that there werent’ sufficient masks, but a screenshot of a tweet later did the rounds, where she apologized for her behavior, adding that the facilities at the hospital were sufficient for the staff.
Earlier, On Tuesday, while announcing the 21-day lockdown, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a Rs 15,000 crore budget for the healthcare sector.
