Table 7.

Areas of need indicated by physicians serving coronavirus patients

Area of need	Specific problems within area
Problems with personal protective equipment (PPE)	• Complete kits of sterile gloves, N95 mask, hazmat goggles, full face shields or visors, and long sleeve disposable fluid repellent gowns are needed • Complete PPE kit is needed in other wards and not just in corona wards and emergency wards • Monitoring of these kits is needed: Some kits have non-functional items and are not sterilized properly • Guidance and training on kit management is needed (for donning and doffing of PPE)
Compensation and contracts	• Stop salary cuts of doctors with penalization of private employers for salary cuts and contract violations • Introduce financial compensation for risky jobs • Introduce financial security for children and family if we die • Health insurance for all physicians and other healthcare providers • Introduce payment for overtime • Transfer contractual employees serving coronavirus patients to permanent contracts • Issue a tax relief on salaries for frontline physicians and other healthcare providers
Management at quarantine centers or wards	• Stop outpatients unless emergency cases • Install vents in hospitals and clinics • Install sanitizer and disinfectants at short intervals across hospital • Install shower tunnels at entrance and regularly sterilize hospital corridors, walls, premises • Increase testing of front-line medical professionals • Active screening of all people entering hospital • Introduce system for maintaining physical distancing at hospitals and clinics • Limit attendants with patients to only one • Improve shower & sanitization facilities for workers in the hospital for when they leave for home • Improve sanitary measures in hospitals, some wards have no running water for handwashing • Walk-through gate for patients
Resource allocation	• More workforce, specifically hospital staff, doctors, nurses, and paramedic staff • Child support for day care while I am at work • Have separate hospitals for coronavirus patients • Government should start paying for inpatients in terms of medications, food and everything • Proper training for newly engaged house officers before placing them on clinical duty • Provide sterilized hostel accommodation to all corona duty staff
Security and public support	• Increase security for doctors receiving threats from patients and family attendants • Increase security at entrance to ensure only screened patients reach us and only one family attendant is with each patient • Improve public support and awareness that we are humans trying to do the best job we can • Remove pressure of political maneuvers and demands for VIP servicing
Governance improvement	• More effective plan of action for containment with doctors on planning committee • Ban religious gatherings and congregations • Remove beggars from streets and place them in relief homes with corona monitoring • Strictly maintain lockdown • Improve the reporting and detection system and introduce a central record • Introduce strict testing criteria • Reduce prices of food and basic necessities; solve the food shortage problems by improving ration distribution • Control and regulate the panic created by social media and television • Regularly sterilize roads and public places • Improve public awareness campaigns, especially for poor and illiterate, with clear instructions, regarding coronavirus and infection management • Increase intake of immunity boosters in the diet
Health sector development	• Awareness sessions are needed for positive thinking and emotional stability • Reduce stigma and bullying against colleagues trying to maintain physical distance at workplace • Improve team-building and communication between leadership and junior physicians/ healthcare providers • Invest and fund research in production of vaccines and medications • Start digital healthcare services