Coronavirus: India’s doctors come under attack as virus stigma grows

Medical workers have been attacked elsewhere as people panic about catching the Covid-19 disease, but the situation is particularly bad in India

Trust in the health care system was already low, misinformation is ubiquitous on social media and the unprecedented national lockdown has only hurt matters

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Doctors check people for coronavirus symptoms in a slum area of Mumbai during India’s nationwide lockdown. Photo: AP

Published: 7:00pm, 14 Apr 2020Updated: 7:00pm, 14 Apr 2020

Trupti Katdare was in a slum in the central Indian city of Indore when the mob attacked.

She and a group of other health workers had been tracking down a man who might have had contact with a recently confirmed case of the coronavirus. When they found him, he cursed at them, asking why they wanted his information and accusing them of trying to take him away.

Almost immediately, at least 100 people surrounded the team, throwing stones and other objects. Luckily, they managed to escape.

“At that time, I was only thinking how we can save our lives,” Katdare said. “My husband, my kids, my family members were in front of my eyes as I wondered if I’d see them again.”

A Indian health worker checks the temperature of a woman during a lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Ahmedabad. Photo: AP

Katdare’s experience is one of the more dramatic in a phenomenon that has become common in India lately: health care workers being subjected to violence and abuse as they try to contain the virus. Assaults have been reported across the country as people panic about catching the disease from medical workers or being stigmatised for having contracted it themselves.