Twenty-six doctors in Multan return to work after recovering from coronavirus

Twenty-six doctors returned to work at Multan’s Nishtar Hospital after recovering from the coronavirus on Sunday. 

The doctors and paramedic staff had tested positive for the novel coronavirus after they had contracted it while treating a patient. The hospital spokesperson had said the doctors who had tested positive had treated a patient with a heart disease who passed away and tested positive for the virus later. 

In a simple welcoming ceremony on Sunday, the doctors were welcomed with rose garlands as they returned to the hospital.

“We have the passion to fight this virus. It doesn’t matter if you are a senior or a junior doctor, or a paramedic or a nurse. We all have the passion to fight the virus,” a doctor who had recovered from the virus told Geo News.

A nurse told Geo News, she was paying tribute to the doctors because of the way they had been battling the virus at the front line.

An increasing number of healthcare professionals have started testing positive for the novel coronavirus in the past few days, with at least 257 confirmed infections among doctors and paramedics between May 5 and May 9, according to a report published by The News.

According to The News, 11 health professional have so far lost their lives to the virus across Pakistan. Five of these have been identified as doctors, one as a nurse, and the remaining as paramedical staff.

“As many as 766 healthcare providers — 440 doctors, 111 nurses and 215 paramedics and other support staff — have been infected [until May 9] and forced to live in home isolation or are under treatment at hospitals,” said the official.

“Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is the worst-hit with respect to the number of healthcare providers infected with the coronavirus as 186 have tested positive there, followed by 184 in Punjab, 149 in Sindh, 138 in Balochistan, 83 in the Islamabad Capital Territory [ICT], 22 in Gilgit-Baltistan and four in Azad Jammu & Kashmir [AJK],” the official added.