COIMBATORE: "Get the whole family of the coronavirus positive person and home-quarantine them outside the gated community as we may also contract the virus!"
This has been the constant refrain of some of the gated communities in the city, where the families of the coronavirus positive or symptomatic patients live.
A few neighbours have been voluntarily dialling up the Health Department, seeking the removal of the family members of the patients from the apartment complex.
Sources in the Health Department said, "Panic-stricken residents of the apartment complex, where the family of a 25-year-old woman tested positive for the virus stayed, requested officials to take their throat swabs and blood samples for test."
Since it was difficult to take the swabs and blood samples from all the people in the complex, disinfectants were sprayed on the premises.
Deputy Director of Health Services G Ramesh Kumar said, "A few people in apartments called us up seeking the removal, particularly the family members, of persons returning from abroad or other states. People must try to shed such panic. We are taking necessary measures to home-quarantine people with travel history."
Meanwhile, psychiatrists said this attitudinal shift can be attributed to extreme fear over the current situation.
D Srinivasan, consultant, psychological medicine, at Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital said, "Anxiety over coronavirus is the reason behind this attitudinal shift. They need not fear if they fulfil the self-responsibility by staying indoors for a few days."
Secretary of Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore R Raveendran said, "The people are afraid because of the rumours. A few gated communities are banning the entry of taxis to the premises. Some people are also disallowing people from other states or foreign countries." Raveendran said the people who face such issues in the gated communities could file a complaint with the police if their family members are refused entry.