SLK & LOZ: Situation at Hand Doesn't Require Infected Doctors to Work

Bratislava, October 6 (TASR) – Doctors in Slovakia are aware that a time may come when they’ll have to treat COVID-19 positive patients even when they themselves are infected with the disease, but this definitely isn’t the case at the moment, head of the Doctors Trade Union Association (LOZ) Peter Visolajsky stated on Tuesday.

Visolajsky’s comment came in reaction to Prime Minister Igor Matovic (OLaNO), who admitted on the radio on Saturday that if the virus situation in the country gets rapidly worse, infected medical staff will have to tend to COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, the Slovak Medical Chamber (SLK) concurred with LOZ, adding that it’s not appropriate to talk about such scenarios given the current conditions.

“The situation in hospitals doesn’t currently require infected medical personnel to work,” stated Visolajsky, who also touched on a recent case in which doctors at a hospital in Banska Bystrica worked despite being infected with coronavirus. According to him, that case can be attributed to a faulty decision by the management of the hospital, as the situation didn’t require the doctors to remain on duty.

SLK views Matovic’s comment as a political, emotional statement that isn’t based on facts, as currently the situation requires every single infected individual, be it a doctor or an ordinary patient, to be isolated and undergo quarantine.

The chamber stated that it hopes that such a grim scenario will be avoided altogether. “Should the situation change and force us to start considering deploying infected doctors, the decision won’t be made by any politician or even the prime minister for that matter, as it will be up to doctors to assess the gravity of the situation,” noted SLK.