Dr Subhash Singh( name changed to protect identity)sits with a plastic (rain)coat and masks inside the check-up centre at the hospital, a feature common in most hospitals confronting the Coronavirus pandemic in Jharkhand.

 Against this backdrop, the state government led by Chief Minister Hemant Soren has to act quick and fast to provide protection to its doctors and nurses who were confronting Covid -19 in the tribal-dominated state in eastern India.

They are health care providers in the ongoing war against the deadly virus. Yet, doctors and nurses at the state government-run RIMS Hospital and MGM Hospital in Jamshedpur have been performing the duty. "It's highly shameful to look at these duty-bound doctors and nurses", said a senior health department officer.

A Facebook and WhatsApp post which turned out to be a reality is going viral. It shows the photo of a doctor dressed in a plastic coat without any space for piddling.

At RIMS hospital www.jharkhandstatenews.com on Monday spotted a lady doctor dressed in a plastic raincoat, mask and gloves. 

None of a dozen doctors of this government hospital with a centre responsible for checking and diagnosing suspected patients of Coronavirus was given Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) by the government.

Since RIMS in Ranchi and MGM in Jamshedpur -two tertiary centres for Covid-19 treatment- have not been provided with quality medical gowns, eye gear, they themselves faced Coronavirus threat.

This has generated a sense of fear and tension among doctors and nurses in the state."The plastic raincoat and the mask can prevent dust particles, not bacteria and virus", reasons a RIMS Doctor angrily.

Though there have been no positive cases in Jharkhand so far, the fear remains as there are many migrant workers who come home from different parts of the country where the Coronavirus pandemic has caused deaths.

Worse, it takes almost 4 - hours to check and conduct one Coronavirus test. Even this test is not being done among all migrants who were staying in their homes in far and wide villages.

" Our life is in danger", cribbed a RIMS doctor while narrating, in brief, the Indo- China war of 1962 when India lost due to the lack of proper shoes and guns among its armed forces. 

" We will lose the war against Coronavirus also if modern PPEs are not provided to us"( doctors and nurses), said noted Surgeon Dr R.S. Das echoing the hidden cries of many RIMS doctors. 

(Video Credit: Nextgen Bihar)