Amid reports of a shortage of personal protective gear for medical professionals, face masks and sanitisers, as well as attacks on nurses and healthcare workers, a large number of people have taken to social media to highlight the plight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
With the hashtag #ModijiSaveDoctors, thousands of people are pouring out their support and underlining healthcare workers’ ordeal in such a serious health emergency.
Many wanted Prime Minister Modi to ensure basic safety and security measures for medical professionals.
Support for the online campaign is swelling, with over 57K messages on Twitter alone.
Shortages of protective health gear in India are forcing some doctors to use raincoats and motorbike helmets while fighting the coronavirus, exposing the weak state of the public health system ahead of an anticipated surge in COVID-19 cases.#ModijiSaveDoctors@HansrajMeena pic.twitter.com/YHKXRyO0lq
— ad solanki (@ad_solanki) April 5, 2020
— Manoj Choudhary (@iammanuu2504) April 5, 2020
Corona can be defeated by improving Helath infrastructures only. Modiji stop fooling people, dont take innocent people as granted and do something for our doctors, poor people. Thali, Candle Circus wont help. Act now. #ModijiSaveDoctors
— Amzad Ali (@Amzad1996) April 5, 2020
In one such tweet, a group of hospital staff appealed through a video clip and sought help as they were compelled to work without gloves and masks. They want the government to urgently pay heed to their basic needs, as sometimes they have to borrow masks before approaching patients.
Corona can be defeated by improving Helath infrastructures only. Modiji stop fooling people, dont take innocent people as granted and do something for our doctors, poor people. Thali, Candle Circus wont help. Act now. #ModijiSaveDoctors
— Amzad Ali (@Amzad1996) April 5, 2020
In another tweet from Jammu and Kashmir’s Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri, a group of contractual nurses sought the prime minister’s help as their services have been terminated amid the outbreak of the coronavirus.
One Twitter user, however, also appealed to people not to use N95 masks, which are primarily for health workers visiting COVID-19-positive patients or for those who are infected themselves.
👉 If you are not a health worker please STOP using N95 masks. No other person needs N95 masks. Every time you buy an N95 - one less health worker is protected - and you make the world unsafe for everyone. @HansrajMeena #ModijiSaveDoctors
— 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 (@imperry07) April 5, 2020
In the wake of the shortage of face masks on the market, the federal Health Ministry on Saturday, 4 April appealed to the general public to use “homemade face cover”, saying it would help protect “the community at large”.
India has already banned exports of PPE, ventilators, face masks, and raw material used in the manufacture of ventilators. New Delhi has also imposed similar curbs on export of diagnostic kits due to the deficit.