Second Nurse Dies Of COVID-19 In Delhi, Eight More From A Private Hospital Test Positive

Another nurse who had tested positive of COVID-19 in Delhi has died, taking the toll of nurses deaths to two in the national capital. The deceased has been identified as Rajamma Madhusoodanan, a resident of Raghubir Nagar. Rajamma who is originally from Kottayam, Kerala has been working in Delhi for decades and was a nurse at the Shivaji Hospital in Rajouri Garden when she died.

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According to reports she died on Wednesday, two days after she was tested positive for COVID-19. Meanwhile, eight more nurses of the Kalra Hospital in the capital's Kirti Nagar area have tested positive for COVID-19.

Last week, Ambika PK, a nurse at the Kalra Hospital had died at the Safdarjung Hospital after being infected. "Around eight nurses of our hospital had tested positive a few days ago. Three of them are kept in an isolation facility at our hospital only and the rest are asymptomatic. So, as per guidelines they have been told to be home-quarantined," said Dr. R N Kalra, owner of the hospital.

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"We also have a unit in Dwarka with 50 beds. We have reserved 34 beds there for COVID patients," he said.

Following Ambika's death, her colleagues had alleged that there was a shortage of PPE kits for them and nurses were asked to reuse them, while doctors were given fresh ones.

In April, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had announced that his government will give a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the kin of all those in case they die during dealing with the Coronavirus patients.

"If any doctor, nurse, sanitation workers at hospitals, lab technician contracts the infection and dies due to it while attending to the patients of COVID-19, then the Delhi government will give a compensation of Rs 1 crore to their family," Kejriwal had said.

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The death of the two nurses once again highlights the risk the healthcare professionals face while dealing with the worst health crisis in our times. According to reports, some 31 doctors and five nurses have died in India due to COVID-19. In most of the cases, they were either treating or had unknowingly exposed themselves to coronavirus patients.

During the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak hospitals, both in the private and government sector had struggled due to the shortage of PPEs for its staff, which many say is not the case now. However, even now many healthcare workers allege that they still do not get proper protective gear, which is exposing them to the viral infection.