Radiologists should be on the list of professionals entitled to fluid-resistant gowns to help protect frontline medical staff fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, New Power Party Legislator Chiu Hsien-chih (邱顯智) said yesterday.
“Not providing the gowns to radiologists is putting their lives at risks,” Chiu told a news conference at the Legislative Yuan in Taipei, criticizing the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s decision in February to amend the rules about provision of waterproof surgical gowns, a move that excluded radiologists.
Taiwan’s 6,706 radiologists wear non-waterproof gowns that offer no protection against potentially virus-containing droplets, he said.
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
Compensation for medical personnel other than doctors and nurses is also far more limited than during the 2003 SARS pandemic, when they were given NT$2,000 to NT$3,000 per shift per person, Chiu said.
The treatment is discriminatory, Chiu said, adding that frontline healthcare professionals should be treated equally.
Radiologist Chang Wei-sheng (張維勝) said that the virus can be transmitted more easily than once thought.
Chang said that in 2003 he was infected with SARS after taking an X-ray of a patient with the disease while wearing only a mask to protect himself against viruses.
Frontline healthcare professionals, including radiologists, must be sufficiently protected, otherwise medical institutions could become loopholes in disease prevention, Chang said.
Taiwan Association of Medical Radiation Technologists chairman Tu Chun-yuan (杜俊元) said that many radiologists are couples who work in separate hospitals, so inter-hospital transmission could occur if one of them gets infected.
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