Coronavirus: Karnataka to rope in 1 lakh medical, paramedical, nursing students for Covid duty

Amidst the rising number of cases in Karnataka, the state government has decided to bring in more than 1 lakh students of medical, paramedical and nursing courses for Coronavirus duty. Deputy Chief Minister of the state C N Ashwathnarayan has said that the students will be roped in for Covid-19 duties with suitable financial incentive, the Indian Express reported.

Breaking up the number of students who will be enrolled for Covid-19 duty, Ashwathnarayan said that the state has about 17500 medical students, 45000 nursing students and other students enrolled in dental, AYUSH and pharmacy courses. Ashwathnarayan who also holds the Ministerial taskforce on the pandemic said that the induction of students will increase the workforce by about 1 lakh and alleviate the overstressed health workers. He also said that the students will be deployed at various hospitals across the state as per the needs and demands made by the hospitals.

Experts have already flagged the issue of health workforce shortage during the second wave of Coronavirus. Earlier, famous cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty had said that once the shortage of Oxygen is tackled, the next emerging challenge will be to boost the workforce of health workers. The central government taking note of the problem has already decided to rope in final year MBBS course students for Coronavirus duty. As an incentive, the government will also prioritise students who have completed 100 day Covid-19 duty in its future recruitment process.

The state of Karnataka on Monday registered a record 50,112 new Coronavirus cases on Monday contributing a major chunk of new cases to the national tally. A total of 346 Covid-19 related casualties were also reported on the same day in the state.