COVID costs spiralling out of control for depts, hosps

For an urban local body having around 5,000 sanitary workers the daily requirement of masks, gloves and bleaching powder costs around Rs 25 lakh a day. “In case of Chennai, the medical and safety expenditure alone will be more than a crore per day excluding the salaries and the food served for those on Covid duty,” said a government official.

The cost of the US certified full kit (PPE with N 95) with GST costs around Rs 4,500 for three sets. The South India Textile Research Association certified (SITRA) kit comes for around Rs 3,000 (three pieces), explained S Balasubramanian, SITRA certified PPE manufacturer based in Vandalur. Any PPE or mask is not advisable for more than 8 hours and the ward to operate for a day needs three sets of PPEs per day, Balasubramanian said.

The cost of a litre of advanced sterile handrub used in ICU is Rs 1,300 and the non-alcoholic sanitiser for other staff is Rs 900. The packet of 100 normal gloves which was Rs 250 last year now costs Rs 750,” L Sridhar, a Chennai-based pharmacist said, adding, only massive production from places like China can help bring down the price of COVID-related items.

According to a purchase manager with a corporate hospital in Chennai, “To maintain a Covid ward for 24 hours which has just three to four patients, you need a dedicated team of 20 health workers comprising five nurses, three ward assistants, three doctors, four paramedics, two drivers, two lab technicians, and a senior medical practitioner. They need at least 40 PPE, N-95 masks, full gloves, head caps, surgical gloves in a day for two shifts which costs thousands of rupees, he said.