100-member team treating COVID-19 patients in Indore hospital

The coronavirus pandemic is giving sleepless nights to a 100-member medical team, led by a chest specialist, who are hard-pressed with the task of treating patients at their hospital in the city, which has emerged as one of the COVID-19 hotspots in Madhya Pradesh. Dr Ravi Dosi (39), who is heading this team of doctors, nurses and paramedical staff, says keeping himself and the team motivated in these tough times is necessary as the fight against the virus is going to be "longish".

Dr Dosi and his team members are often seen running from the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) to different wards of 1,150-bed Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences (SAIMS). The hospital management claims that the number of coronavirus patients it is treating simultaneously is the highest in India. Wearing a Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) suit, Dr Dosi took some time off his busy schedule and told PTI, "Our hospital's COVID-19 admissions are 130 right now. Of them, seven coronavirus patients are in ICU.

Twenty-five of them have been discharged." "An average of 10 patients having fever and showing flu-like symptoms and sore throat were turning up in SAIMS on a daily basis. Earlier, only the critical patients came, but now due to the increased awareness, people with less severity are also coming to the hospital," he said. "Majority of the patients are diabetics and those suffering from heart ailment, high blood pressure and pulmonary problems. Many of them are smokers with feeble lungs," he added. Dr Dosi said he could not sleep properly in the last fortnight as the number of patients is constantly rising.

He said he is keeping himself away from his family for their well-being. The city's streets were teeming with people just a fortnight ago. But the situation changed after the lockdown. The virus has infected 249 people in just 18 days in the city. Of them, 30 died during treatment. The city has registered 12 per cent mortality rate, which is much higher than the national average among COVID-19 patients. However, Dr Dosi argued that the virus is not in the community transmission stage in the city yet. "Majority of the patients, who had been quarantined, come to SAIMS.

These include people whose family member or acquaintance had been infected by COVID -19," he said. "Right now, my biggest challenge as a doctor is to protect myself from the extreme negativity prevailing in the society regarding the virus. I always try to keep myself and my team members in good spirit and motivated because I know that the fight against the epidemic is longish," he added. Meanwhile, district chief medical and health officer (CMHO) Praveen Jadia said that along with 150 government doctors, 600 paramedics have waged a war against the virus in the city.

Besides SAIMS, the government-run Manorama Raje TB Hospital and another private hospital are treating the patients in the city. According to officials, the virus crept into the district, which is home to around 30 lakh people, late March, following which samples of 3,000 people, including those hailing from neighbouring district,, have been sent for testing. Health activists said the testing facility in Indore should be scaled up for the virus testing and for new laboratories should be opened.