Nearly 1,000 health workers were polled in a month-long survey carried out by doctors from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. The survey covered a range of state run and private establishments and spanned both urban and rural settings. It revealed that 32% of them do not sanitise their hands after coming into contact with patients or their surroundings. 47% of the respondents admitted to failings in following proper hand hygiene protocols. More than half of those questioned admitted to social distancing failures when speaking with colleagues, while 21% said they were continuing to shake hands despite the transmission risk. 59% of healthcare workers said they used the same mobile phones both at work and at home.
Compliance was higher when it came to wearing masks, with 88% of respondents claiming to routinely wear them inside healthcare settings. Hand hygiene and social distancing lapses were attributed to cramped conditions, a poor level of knowledge and difficulties in altering entrenched habits.