New Delhi: In view of an exponential rise in the Covid-19 cases in the country and to ramp up the medical facilities, the Government is mulling to deploy final year students of MBBS at various Covid care centres and hospitals.
According to a Government source, this was discussed and decided in a meeting held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with experts and senior officials of the Union Home and Heath Ministries on Sunday morning.
Sudden surge in the second wave of pandemic and fatigue among the health workers has led the Government to consider this option, the source said.
“In the meeting, many steps to incentivize students and pass-outs of medical and nursing courses to join Covid duty were taken, details of which will come out tomorrow,” they added.
PM Modi also emphasized on the effective use of the resources available in Covid management and reiterated that no one should die of oxygen shortage.
The experts have also suggested the ways to short out logistics issues in transportation of liquid medical Oxygen, equipment and essential medicine in mitigating this pandemic which has rattled the entire health infrastructure in the country.
“Decisions may include delaying NEET and incentivising MBBS pass-outs studying for it to join Covid duty. The decisions may also include utilizing services of final year MBBS and nursing students in Covid Duty. Those medical personnel doing Covid duty will be given preference in government recruitment as well as a financial incentive,” they added.
On Saturday, a doctor was among 12 people who died at Delhi’s Batra Hospital after the facility ran out of medical oxygen - for the second time in the space of a week. Separately, a resident doctor at a private hospital in the capital died by suicide due to severe stress. (UNI)