Close to 500 hospital staff in the city of Wuhan have been infected by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), reported South China Morning Post.

This news comes after the whistleblower doctor, Li Wenliang, died a week ago due to infection caused by the viral outbreak.

Healthcare workers on the front line have a higher risk of infection

According to SCMP, there are a few main reasons why healthcare workers working an the front line are more likely to be infected by the coronavirus.

One reason is the lack of protective gear for staff, especially hazmat suits.

A doctor told SCMP that medical staff “have been crying out for more donations of medical supplies, especially hazmat suits”.

Even with protective gear, the risk of transmission of the Covid-19 is high.

Ian Lipkin, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University, was quoted by SCMP as saying:

“The reason for this is that physicians and health care workers have a very intimate relationship with their patients, and even with personal protective equipment, sometimes we use it late, sometimes we get exposed inadvertently, and the efforts we make to support them with fluids and such place us at extremely high risk.”

Another reason that Lipkin gave was that those working at the hospital would be immunosuppressed, which means that they are unable to fight the infection effectively, due to long working hours and exhaustion.

In addition, the healthcare staff are exposed to a larger viral load, or a greater number of viral particles, due to the nature of their job.

Besides physical exhaustion, medical workers are faced with lower morale as they were observed to be "devastated" when they saw the CAT scans of infected colleagues, according to SCMP.

The third reason is the lack of knowledge amongst healthcare staff about how contagious the coronavirus is.

According to an account by Yu Changping, a respiratory specialist with the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, SCMP reported that he developed a fever on Jan. 14 and later tested positive for the Covid-19.

He said he was not aware of when he became infected as he treated a lot of patients every day but understood that the chance of getting infected was high.

He said:

"The virus is too contagious. We did not have enough understanding about the virus."

On Jan. 17, Yu was admitted to a hospital with his colleague from the same department and is currently being treated for the coronavirus.

Hospitals in Wuhan are understaffed

At major hospital in Wuhan, a doctor said that there was a lack of manpower and that healthcare staff are working harder as many have fallen ill.

The doctor said:

“Just a very rough estimate, 100 nurses and doctors can look after 100 ordinary beds and 16 ICU beds. If they are sick, not only do they occupy 100 beds, but the staff taking care of 100 beds are gone. That means a hospital loses the capacity of 200 beds.”

“That is why the authorities have to keep sending medics over to Wuhan, not only because there are not enough beds, but because of a lack of health doctors and nurses to take care of the sick beds.”

According to SCMP, Chinese authorities have deployed about 10,000 additional healthcare staff in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak.

In addition, more protective gear has been delivered to major hospitals in Wuhan.

Government's alleged attempts to cover up the outbreak

Nurses and doctors have also been told not to reveal cases of healthcare staff who have been infected.

While Chinese authorities have reported individual cases of infections in medical staff, the authorities have been working to improve morale amongst those working at the front line, especially after the death of Li Wenliang on Feb. 7, 2020.

The death of Li sparked national outrage as he succumbed to the Covid-19, after being punished by authorities for notifying colleagues about the new virus in the first place.

So far, the deaths of two other Wuhan health care workers have been reported.

Top photo by People's Daily China/Facebook