Health workers, police face attacks
BENGALURU/BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh police arrested seven people on Thursday for allegedly attacking and hurling stones at two doctors in Indore, the latest in a string of assaults on frontline health workers by local residents across India, complicating the already uphill battle against the coronavirus disease.
The attack in Indore came on the same day a group of Asha workers were attacked and their belongings snatched in Bengaluru, policemen and medical personnel were pelted with stones in Bihar and locals clashed with law-enforcement authorities in West Bengal. Relatives of a coronavirus victim also assaulted the doctor and staff on duty.
BENGALURU/BHOPAL:For five years, Krishnaveni has been going doorto-door in north Bengaluru’s cramped Sadiq Palya area, collecting information, spreading awareness about Malaria and Cholera, and helping the low income neighbourhood access community health care.
An Accredited Social Health Activist or Asha worker in her forties, Krishnaveni was well known to many local residents but her painstakingly developed ties to the local community came undone on Wednesday evening when she and her colleagues were assaulted by a group of young men. The reason: They were going to every home, asking if something was coughing or had fever – some of the most-common symptoms of Covid-19.
“They heckled us, snatched our belongings and we couldn’t call anybody. We are here for their health and look how they treat us,” she fumed, after city police rescued the group of health workers. Taken aback, the Asha workers have now vowed to never go back to the neighbourhood without police protection.
They aren’t the only one. Across India, front-line health workers and doctors are battling attacks by local residents, complicating the already uphill battle against the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) that has infected at least 2,500 people. The central and state governments have praised health workers and appealed to the citizenry to help them, but to little effect.“The doctors are doing humantarian work under difficult circumstances and they need the state’s support. Without them, we will not be able to contain Covid-19,” said KK Aggarwal, head of medical associations of Asia and Oceania, calling for enhanced security.
Many of the attacks have been reported while health workers are out collecting samples or spreading awareness. Experts blame panic, misinformation and deliberately planned rumours as having fuelled the assaults.
In Indore city’s Tatt Patti Bakhal area on Wednesday, two women doctors were surrounded by a hostile mob while combing the area for people with Covid-19.