Address fears, sensitise people on COVID-19 pandemic
The funerals of three doctors in Tamil Nadu have been disrupted by locals recently over fears about COVID-19. A doctor from Nellore who died of the infection in Chennai was denied a peaceful end by residents near a city crematorium. Villagers protested the burial of a doctor in The Nilgiris over fears of the pandemic, relenting only after they learnt he had died of a different infection.
In the wee hours of Monday, Dr Simon Hercules, a senior neurosurgeon who died of the coronavirus, had to be buried by his own colleagues as residents near two different burial grounds staged protests. One of the protests ended in violence, with civic body and hospital staff being injured. These incidents have led to doctors across the country expressing pain at such treatment being meted out to frontline workers. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has made an appeal to citizens to avoid such protests and allow doctors to be laid to rest peacefully and with respect. Meanwhile, police have threatened to invoke the Goondas Act against those disrupting funerals.
However, the issue may require more engagement with local communities to educate them better about how the virus spreads to allay their fears. It is not just doctors whose funerals are being disrupted: Villagers in Erode district protested the funeral of a teenager who died of other causes as they thought he was a COVID-19 victim. Similarly, most survivors of the disease and even those under home quarantine have spoken of being widely stigmatised. This suggests a gap in knowledge and information about the disease among the wider public.
Tamil Nadu and other governments must learn from health communication campaigns deployed against HIV/AIDS and leprosy, and start communicating better with the public. Communication needs to go beyond speaking of social distancing, washing hands, and wearing masks. The ‘why’ must also be explained, more so as the struggle against the pandemic is likely to go on for some more time.