MUMBAI: Four of the 108 patients who tested positive for the coronavirus in Mumbai are doctors who reportedly got infected in the course of their work. One of the four dead patients was an 85-year-old retired urologist. Medical professionals face the highest risk of infection in the ongoing pandemic, with China and Italy losing tens of doctors in the past few months.

The mood among Mumbai’s doctors is hence predictably somber. “There are many among us who want to help the government, but there should be systematic way of using private doctors more effectively in the public health system,” said radiologist Dr Jignesh Thakkar .

While the authorities have cancelled leave for all public doctors, there are private doctors who want to help the public health system. This can be gauged by the fact that 75 private doctors signed up within 24 hours of BMC’s appeal to help at five of its peripheral hospitals. Now, the BMC has asked the Indian Medical Association (IMA) for a list of another 150 doctors who will help out.

However, a doctor who was first keen to help out said he is in a dilemma. “There is little in terms of protective equipment as the general people have bought off all the masks and sanitizers that should ideally have been used for the medical staff on the frontline,” he said. Dr Shivkumar Utture , president of Maharashtra Medical Council, said, “The large-scale buying of these medical safety devices by the public leave the doctors vulnerable.”

There is a feeling that the government should provide minimum protective devices for doctors as these are not available in the marketplace. A senior doctor asked, “If a doctor cannot have protection, how can she or he protect others?”

