548 docs, nurses, paramedics in India have Covid

New Delhi: Coronavirus has infected around 548 doctors, nurses and paramedics across the country so far, according to data maintained by the Centre, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday.

The figure does not include field workers, ward boys, sanitation workers, security guards, lab attendants, peons, laundry and kitchen staff among others.

Quoting an official source, PTI said it has not been ascertained from where these doctors, nurses and paramedic staff have acquired the infection. The figure includes doctors, nurses and paramedics from Centre-run and state government-run facilities across states and union territories.

“No epidemiological investigation of the cases were done. So there is no clear segregation on how many contracted the disease at workplace and how many got it from the community,” the official source said. Several doctors, who tested positive for COVID-19, are also reported to have died in the country. Though their exact numbers were not immediately known. The official said that 69 doctors in the national capital have so far contracted the disease.

COVID-19 has claimed 1,694 lives and infected 49,391 people nationwide till Wednesday morning. Besides, 274 nurses and paramedics have so far been infected by the virus. As many as 13 healthcare personnel, including seven resident doctors and a professor, have tested positive for coronavirus over the past two months at the Centre-run Safdarjung Hospital, the sources said.

Around 10 healthcare workers, including a resident doctor and five nurses, have contracted the disease so far at the AIIMS. Besides, some security guards have also been infected in the premier hospital. Besides, several healthcare workers working in various central and Delhi government hospitals have also been infected by the disease, according to the data.