Doctors Association Kashmir (DAK) on Wednesday called for mass screening of healthcare workers for coronavirus.
“That would ensure safety of patients,” said DAK President, Dr Nisar ul Hassan. “Mass screening of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff by antibody testing should be given the highest priority to prevent hospitals from becoming hotspots of disease transmission.”
He said patients were aware of the risk and were stayinghome due to justified fears that they could contract the virus by attendinghospitals.
Dr Hassan said unlike PCR test which was used to diagnoseactive COVD19 infection, antibody testing will identify which healthcareworkers were exposed to the virus in the past and have now developed antibodiesagainst the virus.
“We will be in thissituation for another month, probably more. We need to test staff quickly forimmunity to allow them work without fear of infection and ensure safeenvironment in hospitals for patient care,” said Dr Hassan.