185 nurses from Manipur quit jobs in COVID-hit Kolkata, return home

At least 185 nurses hailing from Manipur and working in private hospitals in Kolkata have left for their home state after resigning from their jobs following the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases here, sources said on Friday (May 15).

This will add to the prevailing shortage of nurses in the facilities here amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, said a senior official of a private hospital from which nine nurses have quit.

Apart from feeling unsafe staying in the city after the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths due to the disease started rising, the nurses from the northeastern state, which has only one active case now, chose to quit their jobs because of pressure from their parents to return home, sources in various private hospitals in the city said.

“Our parents are concerned and we are also quite stressed when the cases are rising everyday here. Our state is a green state and we feel going back home. Our state government is helping us. Family and parents are our priority,” one of the nurses who resigned said when contacted over the phone.

No confirmation can be made from the government about its “help”.

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The number of active cases in West Bengal rose to 1,407 on Friday. A total of 153 people have died directly due to COVID-19 in the state so far and 72 others succumbed because of other comorbidity conditions where the presence of coronavirus was incidental.

“If we remain alive, we will get another job,” the nurse said on condition of anonymity.

Nurses from Manipur have started leaving since Monday (May 11) in buses and small vehicles, sources said, adding that after they reach their home state, they will be sent home or for institutional quarantine.

Apart from the 185 who have left, 132 others are scheduled to return to Imphal taking a transit route through Assam and Nagaland, according to a well-placed source.

“We apprehend there will be a significant crisis, as more and more nurses are leaving the city for home. Since occupancy is low across all hospitals, we will be able to manage now. But once planned surgeries restart full-fledged, we will feel the pinch,” AMRI Hospital’s Group CEO Rupak Barua said.

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“There has always been a shortage of nurses in West Bengal due to lack of sufficient nursing colleges and this has led to a huge demand-supply gap,” said Barua who is also the chairman of the Healthcare Sub-committee, CII Eastern Region.

“We have been dependent more on nurses from other states, particularly from Manipur, Tripura and other Northeastern states, along with Kerala,” he said.

Some of the facilities in Kolkata that are facing this crisis include Charnock Hospital where 27 nurses resigned, followed by 25 in Peerless Hospital, 16 in Fortis Healthcare, 11 each in IRIS Multispeciality Hospital and Bhagirathi Neotia Woman and Child Care Centre, and 10 each in Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals and Sri Aurobindo Seva Kendra, sources said.

There are several other hospitals in and around Kolkata where Manipuri nurses have quit their jobs and left for their homes.