2-day quarantine after 5 duty days: Mumbai doctors say they stand exposed to coronavirus

Each one of us is scared. Every day we get a call from our family, parents asking us to come back. They say you need not have to work in this set up for 50,000just take a year off. As doctors, it is our duty to serve the people, but this crisis has to be managed well. If not, then the whole system is going to collapse,” says Dr Anudeep TC who is pursuing his masters in plastic surgery.

Dr Anudeep TC is not alone. Many resident doctors in Mumbai feel they are at risk as they continue to work in dedicated hospitals for the novel coronavirus.

Mumbai, in the last few days, has seen more than 750 deaths and over 21,000 new cases of infection. The deaths and fresh cases of coronavirus have put a strain on the healthcare system of the city.

Dr Anudeep says he was at his home in Mysore when he rushed back to work to serve the city in the times of the health crisis. Similarly, Dr Mazhar Khan, an MBBS who is pursuing his masters in paediatrics in Mumbai, has not been home for the past 84 days even though his family lives on Mira Road.

He has been putting up at a hostel in the BYL Nair hospital — a dedicated Covid-19 facility. Asked why he doesn’t go home, Khan says his parents suffer from co morbidity issues and he does not want to infect them.
Dr Mazhar Khan and Dr Anudeep TC outside the BYL Nair hospital in Mumbai. (Photo: Sachin Sawant/India Today)
Reduction in quarantine period for resident doctors

Initially, resident doctors like Dr Anudeep and Dr Khan worked according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines. “We were being given a schedule of seven working and 14 days of quarantine. There was a rationale behind this because if we did contract infection, the incubation period was up to 14 days. So, the 14-day quarantine was very important. If we developed any symptom, we will be treated,” says Dr Anudeep.

On April 16, however, things changed after the Mumbai Municipal commissioner Iqbal Chahal and Director Medical Education Dr T P Lahane ordered a reduction in the number of days of quarantine for resident doctors.

The circular, signed by the two, stated, “It was unanimously agreed that if we follow the pattern of 67% work and 33% off, the manpower will not be adequate to run the necessary amount of beds which are required for treating the critically ill patients.”