Express News Service

HYDERABAD:  The novel Coronavirus has killed at least 14 healthcare workers and their dependents so far in Telangana. According to data from the Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS), which Express accessed, a total of 488 healthcare workers and their dependents have been admitted to the hospital for the highly contagious Covid-19. They are all employees of either NIMS or other government hospitals in the State. While 286 of them work at NIMS, the remaining 202 are from other government hospitals, their dependents and dependents of NIMS staff. Of the 488 patients, 444 have beat the disease and been discharged. 

The NIMS in Hyderabad is the exclusive Covid-19 treatment centre for healthcare workers — be it nurses, doctors, lab technicians or paramedics. “Any patient admitted at NIMS is graded on three levels of severity. Level-I of the disease is for asymptomatic cases, who do not need oxygen. On any given day, this makes for the largest chunk of patients. Levels II and III are critical patients who need oxygen supply and ICU emergency services, respectively,” a highly placed official said. 

A glance at the latest active cases in NIMS shows how quickly the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, is spreading among health workers. Already, 13 per cent of Telangana’s medical staff is in critical care. Currently, NIMS has 44 active cases, of which six are in Level-III care and an equal number is in Level-II. The remaining 32 are in Level-I care.

Fourteen of the 44 patients are government doctors, including a few who had to be re-admitted for post-Covid complications. “Some patients have developed fibrosis in their lungs, while some have weakness, respiratory complications and reinfections, which is why they continue to be in the hospital,” the official said.At NIMS,the anaesthesia and general medicine departments, apart from others specialising in ICU care, are working full time to treat Telangana’s Covid warriors.

HRC issues notice over defunct freezers at Covid mortuary
Khammam: The Human Rights Commission on Friday issued notices to the District Collector and Superintendent of the District Headquarters Hospital regarding the non-functioning freezers at the Covid-19 mortuary, and directed them to submit a detailed report on the issue before September 18.  The Commission alleged that bodies were decomposing in the mortuary due to the lack of freezers. When contacted, the Superintendent said that there was a shortage of technical staff and that the freezers would be repaired soon