Interns at BJ Medical College catch super spreader syndrome

14 interns at Civil test positive, but interns believe that over 50 of them may be carriers of virus; allege 7-day Covid duty raised to 10 and quarantine reduced from 7 to 5 days

Interns working at the designated 1,200-bed Covid hospital on Ahmedabad Civil Hospital campus are a troubled lot. After 14 interns working at the hospital tested positive for Covid-19, the interns numbering over 350 at B J Medical College in Civil have alleged that they suspect over 50 interns to be carrying the coronavirus and if tests are not conducted on all the interns, they fear they may become super spreaders.

After raising their issues on social media, the interns have now formed an association of interns across the state to highlight their problems.

After completion of MBBS, medicos work as interns for a year at hospitals.

According to the interns, they earlier had a system of 7-day duty at Covid hospital, thereafter 7 days they had to go into quarantine and then they were given non-Covid duty for 7 days. However, this working system has been changed and they have been forced to work for 10 days at Covid hospital, while only providing 5 days of quarantine with no clarity about non-Covid duty.

They have alleged that senior resident doctors, the head of department, head of unit pile them with work and treat them badly. Their constant exposure in the Covid ward has resulted in more positive cases, they believe.

Concerned that no attention is paid to them, the interns met the Dean of BJ Medical College Dr Pranay Shah and complained about being overburdened with work, 12-hour shifts and increasing their Covid duty thereby exposing them more. The dean assured them in the presence of Covid hospital Nodal officer for interns Dr Himanshu Panchal that their concerns will be taken care of.

We are following the guidelines and testing those who show the symptoms (of Covid- 19 infection). We are also taking good care of themDr Pranay Shah, Dean, BJ Medical College

However, with two more interns testing positive for Covid-19 on Monday, the total number of interns tested positive is 14 now. However, interns allege that more than 50 interns will test positive if tests are conducted. Moreover, the administration has not done any contact tracing. The interns live in the same hostel and have the same food in the mess with others. So, they fear they might become super spreaders since they also work in medicine, surgery, emergency and trauma centre.

With the issue becoming serious, interns across the medical colleges in the state have joined hands to form Gujarat Intern Doctors Association (GIDA).

President of GIDA Jainam Patel who is an intern at Baroda Medical College said, "Interns at BJ Medical College are facing problems and a lot of issues remain unsolved. We are looking into it and deciding on our plan of action."

An intern at BJ on condition of anonymity said, "We used to get 7-day Covid duty, 7 days quarantine and 7 days non-Covid duty earlier. But now we have 10-day Covid duty, 5 days quarantine and work for 10-12 hours daily. The situation is going out of hand as more intern doctors turn positive. If now we are not tested, we will become super spreaders."

Dr Himanshu Panchal, nodal officer for interns at Covid hospital said, "We have given 7-day Covid duty to interns."

However, Panchal is not aware about the number of interns who are currently positive. "I don't know the exact number. Will have to check," he said.

Regarding the allegations by interns that testing is not enough, Dr Pranay Shah, said, "We are following the guidelines and testing those who show the symptoms. We are also taking good care of them."