COVID19 Infection in Health Care Professionals: Risks, Work-Safety and Psychological Issues

COVID-19 infection has spread widely over past 5 months to become a pandemic of global proportions affecting almost every country. While HCPs are expected to tackle this crisis by working in hospital and intensive care setting, there is real risk of them contracting infection and even dying. This article aims to report cases of healthcare personnel (HCPs) contracting COVID19 in various settings in a tertiary care hospital, a designated COVID centre, with view to disseminate information and review safety and psychological health issues of healthcare professionals. This study is a cross-sectional hospital-based survey from April 2020-June 2020. Data on demographics, workplace safety and psychological parameters from HCPs was collected by both interview and an online questionnaire form. A total of 40 healthcare workers were infected in the hospital in a period of 2 months since the first COVID case was admitted in the hospital. Almost 57.5% reported positive on several psychological parameters like anxiety, fear, anger, irritability and insomnia. About 42.5% had no psychological counselling after testing positive. These cases illustrate work-place risks for healthcare workers of acquiring COVID19 and highlight the problems faced in terms of risks of transmission to patients and colleagues, isolation of contacts in departments leading to near-breakdown of services and psychological stress to healthcare workers. Healthcare workers being at frontline of exposure to corona patients are at increased risk of developing COVID19 infections. Healthcare workers are working under tremendous stress in this pandemic and it is necessary to combat fear with facts and work towards safe work atmosphere so that they can discharge their duties to best of their ability.