Russia calls on medical students to slow down the advance of covid-19

(EFE) .- As the number of those infected with covid-19 in Russia increases, the authorities of this country have decided to reinforce the contingent of doctors with the incorporation of fourth and fifth year medical students to slow the progress of the infection, which has already affected more than 170,000 people in this country.

According to the official version, only those willing to work with coronavirus patients are assigned to “red zones”, while the rest can work as administrative and support personnel.

At the same time, several students have complained that the official “recommendation” is actually binding and that many students fear for their lives and the lives of their loved ones, doubting the availability of the necessary protective equipment to work with. sick from COVID-19.

According to the data of this Thursday, in Russia 177,160 cases of coronavirus and 1,625 deaths have been registered

According to the data of this Thursday, in Russia 177,160 cases of coronavirus and 1,625 deaths have been registered.

“Most of us are willing to help, but only when that help does not endanger our environment (children, parents, older people),” says a request from Russian students on the Change.org platform, who have signed more 10,000 people.

University students ask the Russian Ministry of Health that, if it imposes a “compulsory internship” in centers with covid-19, it must do so “sensibly and without sacrificing future doctors.”

In particular, the students ask that they be provided with all the necessary protective equipment to work with coronavirus sufferers and create conditions for those who may put their elders at risk at home, such as alternative temporary accommodation during the epidemic.

In statements to the press, several students have expressed concern that an eventual refusal to work in hospitals treating patients with covid-19 could lead to “academic failure” and even expulsion from the university.

Nor are they convinced by the financial incentives that some regions have promised for students working with patients with covid-19.

Amid the controversy, the authorities in Khabarovsk, the Russian Far East, quarantined a student residence whose tenants were treating those infected with coronavirus, the TASS agency reports Wednesday.

Several students have expressed concern that an eventual refusal to work in hospitals treating patients with covid-19 could lead to “academic failure” and even expulsion.

According to the Russian Minister of Health, Mikhail Murashko, about 41,000 medical students and resident doctors are currently involved in the fight against the coronavirus in Russia.

“I want to emphasize that in the so-called” red zone “only those who have given their consent to work and do not have medical contraindications to find themselves in a dangerous place,” said the Minister of Health in a telematic meeting held yesterday, Wednesday, with the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Murashko described the situation as “stable” with the availability of the means of protection for doctors in Russia and assured that the country produces certified suits suitable for use on more than one occasion.

Along with the students, he added, 110,000 doctors fight the infection, as well as 236,000 paramedics and nurses.

At the same time, there are also those who express their willingness to be at the forefront of the fight against the disease that, according to the authorities, has not yet reached its peak in this country.

“Many do not know the situation from within and are guided by the rumors. There is no such fear as to shut themselves up at home and stop doing our duty because of it,” Sechenov State University student Sabira Tambieva told Moskva radio station .

The director of the Moscow Filatov Hospital, Valeri Vechorko, thanked medical students on Facebook for their “invaluable” work in that center

For his part, the director of the Moscow Filatov Hospital, Valeri Vechorko, thanked medical students on Facebook for their “invaluable” work in that center.

“Today, about 270 medical students work in our hospital. Their help is invaluable. (…) They are the hands and eyes of the staff. Seeing that attitude, I am sure that our medicine has a great future” , wrote.

Also the Perm State Medical University, in the Urals, published a statement praising the work of its students in the midst of the pandemic and offering the names and photos of some of their “heroes”, who chose to “be faithful to their vocation, despite all the difficulties. “

According to medical sources, since the start of the pandemic in Russia, more than a hundred health workers have died, without this figure having been officially confirmed.

But the doctors have made a “Memory List”, available online, which they update as they receive data from their colleagues.

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