brand logo

Covid affecting health workers has no impact on operations: Health Ministry

28 Jan 2022

  • Health Ministry confident of continued hospital operations sans disruption
BY Buddhika Samaraweera The Health Ministry has said that although a significant number of health workers in hospitals have been infected with Covid-19, it is not a serious condition that could hamper hospital operations. The All Ceylon Nurses’ Union (ACNU) recently claimed that a large number of health workers across the country have contracted Covid-19 due to the failure of the Government and the Ministry to take steps to control the Covid-19 pandemic. Accordingly, when contacted by The Morning yesterday (27), Health Ministry Communications Director, Public Health Services Deputy Director General, and Disaster Preparedness and Response Division Head Dr. Hemantha Herath said that the spread of Covid-19 among health workers had begun at the onset of the pandemic in the country. He further said: “The spread of Covid-19 among health workers is something that has been happening since the early days of the pandemic, but it is not a hindrance to the extent that hospital operations are disrupted. Also, what we always say is that not only health workers, but everyone should be protected from the disease.” Speaking to The Morning on 25 January, ACNU President H.S.M.B. Madiwatte said that as of 23 January, nearly 60 nursing officers including three pregnant women and about 150 doctors and minor staffers at the National Hospital of Sri Lanka in Colombo alone had been diagnosed with Covid-19.  He said that in the past, patients were tested for Covid-19 at the time of admission to the hospital, but that now the tests are carried out only after the patients are admitted to the wards. He said that if any of the patients who come to the hospital are infected with Covid-19, many at the hospital are at risk of contracting the disease.  Given the issue, he warned that if the situation continues, there would be a shortage of health staff to treat patients, adding that there is already a large shortage of junior staff in certain hospitals. He said: “We urge the Health Ministry and the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure the safety of health staff as soon as possible. Otherwise, the entire health sector will suffer in the future.”


More News..