Over 1500 health workers were affected by Covid-19, trained only one day to care for patients

Sabree Ahmeti, chief nurse at the Neonatology Clinic at the University Clinical Centre of Kosovo (QKUK), has been trained a total of one day to care for patients with COVID-19, the disease that causes coronary. And then, she's infected at the workplace.

We have held a day-to-day training for the pandemic, and it has been how we should dress and strip ourselves in protective clothing against infection. Then we've been told that we should put two sets of sterile gloves, appropriate masks, all these”, she says of Radio Free Europe.

In the Neonatology Clinic, she's treated babies with COVID-19, and she's had contact with other QKUK units, where she treats the coronary infected.

The number of those infected among health personnel is being described as high, and one of the reasons is the adequate lack of training of doctors and nurses themselves to cope with pandemics, health professionals say.

By September 8th, Kosovo has been infected with the new choreography 557 doctors, 886 nurses, 40 pharmacists, 15 pharmacies and 21 physical therapists.

Within the health system, almost all doctors and nurses have treated positive patients with COVID-19.

Pleaments Sejdiu, chairman of the Oda of doctors, told Radio Free Europe, that there have been complaints from health staff for the malpractice and that, as he says, this is also one of the many causes of the infected.

“There has been an effort to train, but as long as it has been implemented properly, it is left to wish. There have been complaints from health personnel from clinics that are not specialized in pandemics. This is the main reason even though we have large numbers of those infected by medical personnel, which are outside the specific domain of fighting pandemic”, Sejdiu said.

From the Union Federation of Health, they say that at the beginning of the pandemic there was thought to be the first front of the fight of the new coronary. In time, however, it turned out that the entire health staff had contact with infected persons, either asimtomatic ones or even those who had symptoms.

Blerim Syla, chairman of this union, said they have requested and found training necessary to react during the time of the pandemic.

All health workers have met with the infected, as many people are asiptomatic. Seeking visits by various natures, patients have infected the medical staff. The union has demanded that training be maintained on how to behave during this time, since it was an unknown virus. However, very little effort has been made, which has consistently had to be maintained training, to be updated with knowledge from countries that have gone through the pandemic wave, but unfortunately it hasn't happened in Kosovo, and therefore we have a large number of health staff infected in Kosovo”, Syla said.

But, the director's duty to Hospital Services and University Clinic (SSHKUK), Valbon Krasniqi, simultaneously infected with Radio Free Europe, said doctors and nurses who have come to the aid of the Infectious Clinic to treat patients with COVID-19 were assistants to the clinic staff.

He added that there has been no specific training for pandemic with COVID-19, but that Kosovo faces infectious diseases each year and that the medical staff is currently trained for infectious diseases.

The training role is not discussed, but that Kosovo has faced infectious diseases every year and that training has not been missed. Working in a tecriar institution and not knowing how to protect yourself from infection doesn't happen. Doctors and nurses at the Infectious Clinic have taken the main burden until others have been like assistants, their assistants in treating patients with COVID-19. They are always dressed and stripped of two people in protective clothing so as to make sure they are not making a mistake”, Krasniqi said.

The leader of the World Health Organisation in Bulgaria, Skender Syla, in an interview for Radio Free Europe, said the alarming number of infected professionals is also at the global level, so according to him, neither is Kosovo an exception.

If you refer to reported global figures, it is considered that 10 percent of all cases reported so far are among health professionals”, he said.

In this context, Syla added that special importance should be devoted to protecting health workers at the workplace at all health care levels. Masks must be used constantly by all without exception, including technical assistance personnel as well as patients who frequent health institutions.