Celebs remove stigma around Covid-19
Life in times of Covid-19 is stressful and the stigmas attached to it are only making the situation worse. Actor Mahima Makwana recently spoke about how people reacted on the sets of her TV show when she felt an acute chest pain. While this was just a muscular pain, Makwana was both “surprised and hurt” to see people murmuring that she might have been infected.
However, shunning all stigmas, celebrities such as Anupam Kher, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan, Boney Kapoor, Farah Khan Ali, Sara Ali Khan, Parth Samthaan and Mohena Kumari, have talked openly about themselves or their family members and staff being tested Covid-19 positive.
Sonu Sood feels that people are just panicking. He asserts, “They don’t know whether they’d get the right treatment if they or their family members get the virus. This [fear] would be there till the vaccine comes out. We need to be responsible, follow precautions. Stigmatising an infection isn’t the right approach.”
Makwana urges everyone to not let the virus take away the sensitivity. “I was taken aback when even on social media people started asking if I’ve got Covid. Such reactions affect one’s mental state,” she says. Lauding Samthaan’s tweet, informing everyone about his diagnosis, Pooja Banerjee, his co-star, adds, “Thanks to him, we all got our tests done on time. Fear is valid, it makes us responsible, but shunning people because they’re infected is wrong.”
Dr Sunit Mediratta, a neurosurgeon, shares, “Problem arises when people create certain stigmas like RWA’s not allowing helps at home or not letting proper garbage clearance from the houses of Covid positive patients.” Dr Pulkit Sharma, clinical psychologist, says social influencers talking about what they’re facing reassures and empowers common man. “People think if they can go through it and come out unscathed, we too can,” he explains.