Residents in a locality of Madhya Pradesh’s Indore city attacked a team of health officials with stones during their visit to screen people for the coronavirus on Wednesday, IANS reported. The attacks took place even as the entire country has been in a state of lockdown to contain the spread of the highly-contagious virus, with no one allowed to leave home except for accessing essential supplies.
The five-member team of the health department included three doctors, and two of them suffered injuries in their legs. The area they were visiting, Tat Patti Bakhal, has reported two Covid-19 cases so far and 54 families there have been quarantined, according to NDTV.
“The moment we started enquiring about a particular person’s health, people began protesting and were joined by others who resorted to pelting stones,” one of the doctors who were injured told IANS. “Policemen standing nearby came to our rescue.”
Indore’s Chief Medical and Health Officer Pravin Jadia confirmed the incident. Unidentified persons have been booked after the incident, Deputy Inspector General of Police Hari Narayan Chari Mishra told the news agency.
Covid-19 victim’s relatives attack doctor in Telangana
Meanwhile, in Hyderabad, a doctor was allegedly attacked by the family members of a Covid-19 patient who died at Gandhi Hospital on Wednesday, reported The News Minute. The 49-year-old man who died had attended the Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi last month, which has emerged as a major source of Covid-19 infections across the country.
“The doctors had kept the family members updated about the man’s condition and they were informed that he was in a very critical condition even two days back,” an unidentified doctor at the hospital was quoted as saying. “They had gotten a bit aggressive at that time itself and we did ask for additional security to be provided but it wasn’t provided. He developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, following which he died.”
The relatives allegedly broke the windows at the hospital.
Following the incident, the Telangana Junior Doctors Association demanded that the Central Reserve Police Force be deployed on each floor of the hospital and the assaulters be booked. Doctors claimed such incidents were becoming frequent, NDTV reported.
Telangana Director General of Police M Mahender Reddy condemned the attack and said security of the doctors will be increased with immediate effect.
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