Around 120 resident doctors have tested Covid-19 positive within the last 48 hours in Mumbai and over 170 across the state. Out of these, 51 tested positive at JJ hospital in the last 24 hours.
Incidentally, there is already a shortage of resident doctors in the city; with many others out of action on account of Covid, it will hamper patient care, said President of Maharashtra State Association of Resident Doctors (MARD), Dr Avinash Dahiphale.
In a welcome development, however, resident doctors in Maharashtra, who were on strike due to the delay in NEET-PG counselling and other issues, have called off their protest after a “fruitful” meeting with the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER)'s director, Dr Deelip Mhaisekar, on Tuesday.
While speaking to FPJ, Dr Avinash Dahiphale, said, “The outpatient departments (OPD)s are not running properly due to lack of doctors. In the last 48 hours, 120 doctors have tested positive; and it is feared that soon more will test positive; all this is going to strain patient care immensely. Therefore, I humbly request the DMER to quickly act on the assurance that they have given to striking resident doctors so that it can be a huge support for our doctors.”
“Across Maharashtra, resident doctors have called off the strike due to the assurance of replenishment of manpower. We are already working on approximately 60 per cent resident capacity, even as our doctors are testing positive. These doctors have been isolated at respective hospitals or their homes. They have mild to moderate symptoms and the samples have been given for genome sequencing,” added Dr Dahiphale.
In the meeting with the DMER, it was discussed that the recruitment of House Officers/ Medical Officers in all govt/corporation medical colleges and hospitals, as per requirement in the view of the delay in NEET PG counselling, will be done.
Issues like the “runanubandh bhatta” (allowance) for the remaining medical colleges were also discussed.
