Several Indian and other doctors in the frontline of treating coronavirus patients in the UK have complained that they themselves are not being tested for the virus, prompting growing concern over the ways in which the crisis is being handled by British authorities.
“The worst is yet to come. Indian doctors and nursing staff are among those in the frontline of treating coronavirus patients, but we are concerned that they are not being tested”, Ramesh Mehta, president of the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, said on Wednesday.
“Indian staff is on the frontline, if they and others also go in isolation, it will further worsen the critical staff shortage in National Health Service (NHS). We have written to the Department of Health on this issue. Those who have symptoms should at least be tested,” he added.
The Boris Johnson government is bracing for a spike in cases in the next three weeks. Besides advising self-isolation and closure of restaurants, pubs, theatres and public events, it has allocated an additional 330 billion pounds to deal with the situation.