Coronavirus patients and those who have recovered from thehighly infectious disease are increasingly facing stigma. There havebeen cases in the country - of doctors being beaten, shunned from rented apartments, and some patients¡¯ families refusing tohelp them or getting help, because of the fear of gettinginfected.
Source/The New Indian Express?
In the most recent case of social boycott attached toCOVID-19, a youth from Odisha has had no choice but to live in his car afterbeing shunned by people at his village.
According to The New Indian Express the report, the man named Madhaba Patra, was put through this ordeal despite havingalready spent 14 days in quarantine in Berhampur and testing negative forCovid-19.?
The report states that Patra, who is a videographer, had travelled to Bihar for some work on May 3and returned after three days.
Before reaching Odisha, he registered his name in thereturnee list and also informed Ganjam Collector about his return. Theofficials then tested him and allowedhim to stay in home quarantine inBerhampur.
The authorities then gave his clearance papers and he headed back hometo Dolaba in his car, just before heavy rain was predicted, due to theapproaching cyclone Amphan.
Madhaba Patra was completely unaware of the treatment thathe was going to face upon reaching his village. According to TNIE, villagers including the husband of a local Anganwadi worker, reached his home and asked him to stay in quarantine.
Patra showed them his clearance certificate and negativetest report, but to no avail.Things got to a point where locals cornered his father in the market area andstarted insulting him.
Furious with the way people were treating him and hisfamily, Patra decided to escalate the matter to the Dolaba Sarpanch.
The sarpanch instead, asked him to stay in the nearbyKalinga quarantine centre. Since no one step forward to help him, Patra has nochoice but to follow the orders. He chose to stay in his car near the quarantine centre.
Source/BCCL
Patra said, ¡°I informed the matter to the local authoritiesbut to no avail. Since there is a risk of contracting the infection ininstitutional quarantine where many migrant workers are housed, I decided tostay in my car. I hope the administration intervenes and saves me from thispredicament.¡±
He eats and sleeps inside the vehicle and only comes out touse the toilet of the quarantine centre.
People on the frontlines and those who have recovered have been facing a lot of discrimination, with people mistreating and abusing them and their families.
Thishas, in turn, led to a more serious problem - people with symptoms are refusing toget tested, which is obviously worrisome.?To deal with this mounting stigma, properawareness and knowledge about the disease are the need of the hour.