Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has demanded 'martyr' status to the doctors who laid down their lives on line of duty while battling Covid-19 during the second wave.
As many as 28 physicians, as per IMA reports, in Odisha have died during second wave of Covid-19 pandemic.
IMA-Odisha unit president Dr Samrat Kar said a doctor fights an unknown enemy from the front like a soldier on the border.
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“So, a doctor should be accorded martyr status if he/she dies on the line of work like what is being accorded to a soldier. It is a matter of concern that 28 people from our fraternity have scarified their lives during the second wave of the pandemic. Our association has always been extending mental cooperation to the bereaved family members so that self confidence of others can be strengthened,” he added.
However, the government should also extend all kinds of co-operations to the family of a warrior to instill self-confidence and a sense of social security in the mind of others, he demanded.
At a time when family members and relatives are reluctant to touch their near and dear ones infected with Covid, doctors are treating them with humility to save their lives from thr deadly disease, he said.
“We feel proud of those who laid down their lives on duty. Government should consider them as a martyrs and accord similar honour to them like soldiers,” he maintained.
Doctors are not only attending the Covid patients in a special isolation ward, but also they attend to other patients in general ward without PPE kit and are exposed to the virus directly. So, they are the more vulnerable to the contagious virus, he pointed out.
As many as 719 doctors lost their lives due to Covid-19 in the second wave of the COVID pandemic across the country with Bihar recording the maximum fatalities.
Odisha witnessed 28 doctors’ death during the period, a release issued by the IMA sated.
The doctors' body stated Bihar recorded 111 deaths followed by Delhi (109), Uttar Pradesh (79), West Bengal (63) and Rajasthan (43).
Among the southern states, Andhra Pradesh reported 35 deaths, while 36 doctors succumbed to the virus in Telangana. Tamil Nadu recorded 32 deaths, while Karnataka and Kerala reported 9 and 24 deaths, respectively