Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said that only three out of 529 mediapersons who were screened for the coronavirus tested positive. Delhi has so far reported 3,314 Covid-19 cases and 54 deaths. It is among the worst regions in India, which has a total of 31,332 cases and 1,007 as of Wednesday morning.
“My best wishes to all of you,” Kejriwal said in a tweet, referring to mediapersons. “Your work is very important esp [especially] during a pandemic. Those who have been detected positive, I am praying for your speedy recovery.”
The Delhi government began testing last week after several journalists had tested positive for the coronavirus in Mumbai and Chennai. The Aam Aadmi Party government had set up a special centre to test media professionals who were on the field to report on the virus.
Several other states such as Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka also began to test journalists after these incidents. The Centre also issued an advisory asking media professionals to take precautions while doing their duties and urged media houses to also take care of their employees.
Last week, 26 employees of a TV news channel based in Chennai tested positive for Covid-19, just a day after the organisation reported its first case. On April 20, at least 53 journalists in Mumbai tested positive for Covid-19. A journalist from Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh also tested positive for Covid-19 in March.
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