Waves….. Waves …. Waves !!! Seems like an unending phenomenon. Easy for any organisation to lock themselves up, maybe even work from home, but not healthcare.
The Omicron seems way more contagious than any of the previous strains and looks like could infect almost everyone. But as you would be aware, the good news is the lowered morbidity and mortality.
But how would we be able to run a place with a loss of man-days if the staffs get infected, esp when most healthcare organisations run with limited staff numbers already. 〉 More patients 〉 More infectivity – What do we do ??? 〉 Less staffs
It’s time to plan & strategise in a manner that our staffs are safeguarded and any sort of clustering is avoided. Below are some of the strategies which can be customised ensuring staff safety.
Ensure the hostel staff do not leave the hostel campus or meet any of their relatives from outside for the next 1 month
Post the day-scholars and hostelites in different departments together and avoid any sort of interaction between them.
Ensure all IP patients are tested for COVID before admission including the attender.
The attender shouldn’t leave the premises until discharge
Post the hostelites preferably in the IP departments and day-scholars in the high-risk zones.
No lunch or tea in the workplace and no gathering for lunch(esp day scholars)
Always ensure everyone is with an N95(not used more than 3 times) properly worn. Do not tolerate mis-behaviour. You have to pay the cost.
If there’s a possibility of having two hostels(although not possible in most places), then consider the possibility of splitting the internal staff into two batches (the cafeteria can be the same with different timings). This could help preserve at least one batch if the other gets infected.
Any doubtful nasal block, fever, or cold to be immediately reported and a swab taken.
Make provisions for a waiting area outside the hospital building esp for fever patients. Staff and doctors to attend all fever patients only with a PPE
Keep all doors and windows open and try not to have air-conditioning
If the OP rooms lack ventilation, try to find an open space for consultation(getting back to stone age )
Lastly, wherever possible, and if infrastructure allows split the OP/IP entry
Although the above strategies do not guarantee complete protection as this variant looks like spreading in air, still ” may provide reasonable protection and help preserve staff’s health, which is very important to continue care, not to mention yourself as a doctor which is even more important !!! “
