More than 500 doctors and health workers of the two leading hospitals in Patna — AIIMS and Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) — have been infected with coronavirus during the ongoing second wave, sources said.
Altogether, 384 employees of AIIMS Patna, including doctors, nurses, sanitation workers, have been infected during the second wave so far, its Medical Superintendent C M Singh told PTI.
PMCH Superintendent Dr Indu Sekhar Thakur said more than 125 of its employees have tested positive so far.
He said the list includes 70 doctors and over 55 nurses and other health workers.
AIIMS and PMCH along with another state-run medical establishment, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, are catering to a large number of COVID patients in the state capital.
The PMCH superintendent said that the hospital authorities have arranged separate isolation spaces for its infected employees.
PMCH, the century-old premier hospital of Bihar, has a facility of around 105 beds for COVID patients barring its staff and all are occupied at present, Thakur said.
AIIMS Patna has expanded its bed capacity to 250 and all the beds are occupied.
The PMCH superintendent said that due to the infection of many staffers, the hospital is facing a manpower shortage.
“But since leave of all the staff has been cancelled, we are managing the functioning of the COVID wards,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bihar chapter of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has published a list of 40 doctors across the state with their phone numbers for assistance to the needy.
“Our doctors are providing treatment over the phone to patients who are primarily in home isolation,” its state president Dr Shahjanand Singh said.
Singh, a surgeon, is himself on the list of doctors helping the needy during the crisis.
The IMA Bihar chief said these doctors are available over the phone from 10 am-12 noon and 4-6 pm.
Bihar is witnessing a second surge of coronavirus like the rest of the country.
As per the health bulletin issued on Wednesday, a total of 12,222 more people tested positive, while 56 lost their lives due to the deadly disease.
The state has a total of 3,54,281 COVID cases while the death toll stands at 1,897
Bihar has 63,745 active cases of coronavirus at present.