Khalid Al-Sulaiman

Okaz

 

IT is now obvious that the spread or control of Coronavirus depends on how strict the rules of fighting the virus are applied in hospitals. Preventive medicine specialists at the Ministry of Health and the Health Affairs of the National Guard should be blamed for the recent spread of the virus.



Not stringently complying with virus control rules when dealing with cases and mingling with patients and their families is unacceptable, let alone justifiable. The Preventive Medicine Department is responsible for ensuring that all healthcare professionals observe and apply these rules.



I have a relative who works in the health sector. He caught the virus and the symptoms only appeared a few weeks later. During this time, before the emergence of the symptoms, he was mingling with patients at the hospital where he works, and also with family and friends. He could have passed on the virus to them unknowingly and jeopardized their lives as well. Luckily, he did not. If the rules controlling infection had been applied strictly, he would have been discovered and placed in isolation.



The health minister recently said there has been a drop in Coronavirus cases recorded at hospitals. The strict measures taken by the ministry to end the lax application of infection control rules must have contributed to the decrease. Unfortunately, some government agencies wake up and sound the alarm bells when the general public is in danger. Why do we always act when it is late? When the media focuses on the responsibilities of some government agencies to deal with a certain situation, these agencies rise up to the occasion and work overdrive. When the focus ends, the agencies go back to their normal levels of laziness.