LOGIN DASHBOARD

    COVID19

    Features

    2 MIN READ

    More frontline medics succumb to Covid-19

    The Record, November 22, 2020, Kathmandu

    More frontline medics succumb to Covid-19

      Share this article

    Even as health workers continue to sacrifice their lives in the line of duty, the government continues to turn a blind eye to their problems

    ( Sujan Shrestha)

    With the ruling Nepal Communist Party busy engaging in factional disputes over power and money, Covid-19 continues to claim the lives of frontline medical professionals and poor people. On Sunday, three health professionals across the country died of coronavirus in the course of treating Covid patients. 

    The Health Ministry’s spokesperson, Dr Jageshwor Gautam, confirmed that three doctors--senior surgeon Druba Sharma Mudvari, medical officer Gauri Shankar Dev, and senior auxiliary health worker Kapil Kumar Shrestha--succumbed to the virus on Sunday.

    Mudvari was receiving treatment at Om Hospital, Kathmandu; Dev, at Nobel Hospital, Biratnagar; and Shrestha, at Seti Provincial Hospital, Dhangadhi.

    The first doctor in Nepal to lose his life to Covid-19, on October 1, was senior orthopedic specialist Dr Hari Prasad Sapkota of Karnali Province Hospital, Surkhet. 

    Sunday’s toll represents the highest single-day death toll of health professionals so far.  According to the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP), over 5,000 health workers have been infected, and at least a dozen of them have died. 

    Doctors in Nepal are working under stress, are underpaid, and are often deprived of the allowance the government had promised them. Earlier this month, fed up with the government’s treatment of health workers, scores of doctors at the Covid-deisgnated Bir Hospital had tendered their resignation en masse. The hospital’s management has yet to address their concerns. The protesting health workers are staging protests by taking turns, to ensure that patients continue to get their services. Most of the health workers on contract have not received their salaries, let alone the risk allowance announced by the government.  

    “Frontliners are always at risk of getting infected,” said the MoHP’s Dr Samir Kumar Adhikari. “They are the ones who know the virus very well, and they are the ones we depend on to provide treatment. The death of health workers at this time of crisis, of course, directly affects service delivery.”

     Nepal already suffers from a shortage of medical professionals. And health professionals--at both  government and private hospitals--are underpaid and overworked. In August, frontline workers started staging protests demanding timely wages and allowances. But the hospitals have not paid them any heed. 

    Read also: Masses of disaffected health workers on the verge of quitting

    Thus while infections continue to rise, the health sector continues to lose professionals. The government has also asked them to pay for PCR tests and treatment out of their own pocket. Earlier, health workers used to get a PCR test every 10 days. But the government later changed that policy, making the tests mandatory only for health workers showing Covid symptoms. 

    The government had earlier also said that it would bear the expenses of Covid treatment for economically backward people, the differently abled, single women, the elderly, and frontline-workers, including security forces. A lawyer had later challenged that decision in court. So the Court ordered the government to provide free checkups and free treatment to all Covid-19 patients. But the government has not fully complied with the court order. 

    On Sunday, a total of 8,032 PCR tests were conducted across the country, and 1,669 new corona cases were detected. Of those, 733 cases were detected in Kathmandu, 131 in Bhaktapur, and 53 in Bhaktapur. With the new cases, the national infection tally has reached 220,308. And with 16 deaths on Sunday, the national tally has reached 1,321. The country has a total of 21,284 active Covid-19 cases, most of which are in Kathmandu Valley. 



    author bio photo

    The Record  We are an independent digital publication based in Kathmandu, Nepal. Our stories examine politics, the economy, society, and culture. We look into events both current and past, offering depth, analysis, and perspective. Explore our features, explainers, long reads, multimedia stories, and podcasts. There’s something here for everyone.



    Comments

    Get the best of

    the Record

    Previous Next

    YOU MAY ALSO LIKE

    COVID19

    News

    3 min read

    Covid19 Roundup, 25April: Flight suspension extended with lockdown extension likely

    The Record - April 25, 2020

    A daily summary of Covid19 related developments that matter

    Explainers

    16 min read

    The OMNI scandal and its impacts

    Bhadra Sharma - September 29, 2020

    The Oli government’s corrupt involvements in the procurement deals for lifesaving PPEs and test kits

    Perspectives

    6 min read

    When women who speak up face lawsuits

    Shreya Joshi - August 6, 2020

    Legal hurdles have prevented the #MeToo movement from taking off in Nepal

    Features

    7 min read

    Salvaging tourism

    Bhadra Sharma - June 16, 2020

    The tourism sector needs intervention, quickly

    Features

    3 min read

    Peril overload for Nepali migrant workers

    Roshan Sedhai - March 21, 2020

    Nepal’s migrant laborers are particularly vulnerable to the Covid19 outbreak in the absence of basic healthcare or job security.

    COVID19

    Features

    5 min read

    How the equity gap affects access to Covid tests and treatment

    Roshan Sedhai , Record Nepal - October 6, 2020

    While the affluent can pick and choose, for many who are poor, Covid treatment is a distant reality

    Features

    COVID19

    Recommended

    7 min read

    For female health workers, it’s like the pandemic never ended

    Manju Telor - June 5, 2022

    Two years on, the Covid-19 pandemic has largely subsided but female frontline health workers still report lingering trauma, exhaustion, and mental health issues. 

    COVID19

    Features

    6 min read

    Tension runs high in Nepal’s overcrowded prisons after first inmate dies of Covid-19

    Bhadra Sharma - September 2, 2020

    Nepal’s prison system is inadequately equipped to deal with mounting coronavirus cases

    • About
    • Contributors
    • Jobs
    • Contact

    CONNECT WITH US

    © Copyright the Record | All Rights Reserved | Privacy Policy