Ensure safety of nurses, Kerala CM writes letters to Thackeray, Kejriwal

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said 46 nurses from Kerala have been infected by Covid-19 in Mumbai and 5 nurses have been infected in Delhi

Acting on the reports of para-medical staff being infected with coronavirus in Delhi and Maharashtra, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has written letters to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray to ensure safety of nurses from Kerala working in these two states.

"I need not remind you that a vast majority of the nursing community serving within India and abroad belongs to Kerala. The services rendered by them have been lauded by one and all. In this hour of crisis, the nation needs to stand with them and give them the confidence which they have been giving all along to others," Vijayan said in the letter.

At a media briefing on Monday after the evaluation meet on coronavirus in Kerala, Vijayan said 46 nurses from Kerala have been infected by Covid-19 in Mumbai and more than 150 nurses were kept under observation there.

"We are receiving frantic telephone calls from them (nurses). Many of them are informing us that there is lack of adequate precaution to prevent the contagion of the disease," Vijayan said in letters to his counterparts Arvind Kejriwal and Uddhav Thackeray.

He also said that five nurses in Delhi State Cancer Institute have been confirmed with coronavirus and there were complaints regarding lack of PPEs across the country.
 

 

Amid coronavirus crisis, world is short of six million nurses, says WHO

As coronavirus (Covid-19) captures global headlines, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned Tuesday that the world needs nearly six million nurses.

The UN's health agency along with partners Nursing Now and the International Council of Nurses (ICN) underscored in a report the crucial role played by nurses, who make up more than half of all health workers worldwide.

"Nurses are the backbone of any health system," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement.

"Today, many nurses find themselves on the frontline in the battle against Covid-19," he noted, adding that it was vital they "get the support they need to keep the world healthy." Read on...