Now that the worldwide coverage of India’s crisis over oxygen, ICU beds and medicine is concentrating minds in officialdom, public health and medical planners would do well to anticipate the next big steps in managing the Covid-19 crisis, both for this second wave and the third wave that will follow almost inevitably. The principal crisis going forward will be the shortage of medical professionals.
How can this be addressed? Cardiac surgeon Devi Shetty made some sensible suggestions at a recent webinar about mobilising trained nursing and medical students waiting for their exams and incentivising them to work in Covid-19 units for at least a year. The broad numbers suggest that this is a simple and do-able way forward,