The AMA is demanding the government’s top infection control advisor retract comments that appear to blame the high rates of COVID-19 healthcare infection on doctors.

Last week, the Infection Control Expert Group’s (ICEG) chair Professor Lyn Gilbert said the high number of healthcare worker infections didn’t necessarily represent PPE failure, while suggesting some had ignored social distancing and ditched protective equipment. 

In response, AMA president Dr Omar Khorshid has written an open letter taking her to task for “disparaging” comments about front-line workers.

He urged her to retract her comments, saying ICEG members had displayed a “continuing tone-deaf attitude towards the legitimate concerns that have been consistently raised over its PPE guidelines”.