CHENNAI: PRIYA* (9) wonders why everybody stays at home to stay safe from COVID-19 while her mom has to turn up for work. Not just that, she’s no more allowed to hug her mother when she gets back from work, until she has had a bath. Priya’s mother is a policewoman. With COVID- 19 spreading rapidly, there’s fear among family members of police personnel about their safety. While rest of the city is working from home, policemen are working overtime on the field -- running to markets to clear crowds, checking vehicles on roads, spreading awareness in public places -- to contain the spread of the virus.
While they have been preaching social distancing to everyone else, their job doesn’t allow them to practice it for themselves. “We need to go into crowds to clear it out. We have to interact with community members. So distancing is impossible,” says the 32-year-old constable mother of Priya. “For instance, I went to market yesterday. A destitute woman had fainted there, and I had to help her out. I couldn’t go searching for gloves or masks at that moment.
” The policewoman says she depends on a regimen of sanitising her hands and not touching her face unnecessarily after such episodes. However, it’s easier said than done. Her husband Raja* says he is concerned about his wife’s safety. “She calls us half hour before getting home, and I ensure the kids do not go near her as soon as she enters the house,” says Raja. “Everything she brings on her way back from office, including her phone and bag are sanitised before being brought inside the home. Our elder daughter is 15, and understands the process but Priya gets confused.” Ambika, sister of a police inspector in the city echoes the same feelings.
“We are proud of the service she does, but it’s also worrisome.” “The little we can do for her is wake up early and lunch for her. With all hotels and restaurants closed, lunch is a struggle. She does not find the time to come home for lunch,” says Ambika. Sekar*, brother of a police constable at the commissioner’s office gets worried every time he sees the news. “My sister’s work is to issue travel passes to public. I see on TV how many people are crowding to avail passes and that scares me. None of them follow social distancing. A few of them do not even wear masks. I am worried for all police personnel on duty there,” says Sekar. Traffic policemen, who have masks and gloves, are struggling to use them standing under the scorching sun.
Overtime and all over the city
While rest of the city is working from home, policemen are working overtime on the field -- running to markets to clear crowds, checking vehicles on roads, spreading awareness in public places -- to contain the spread of the coronavirus.