Medical staff in Japan harassed for carrying ‘germs’ after tending to coronavirus patients
- Frontline health workers have reported being shunned by their own bosses and colleagues, and their children have been told to stay away from school
- The abuse of workers who have risked their lives to save others is a breach of human rights, the Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine says
The Japanese Association for Disaster Medicine (JDAM) has released a strongly-worded statement calling on employers, fellow health care workers and schools to act to stop the harassment on the grounds that it is a breach of human rights.
“Some medical workers who have risked their health to save others have reported being treated unbelievably unfairly,” the association said in the statement, passed on to the Post.
Some members of the 5,000-strong association, which acts as an umbrella organisation to coordinate the dispatch of qualified first responders in any given emergency situation, reported being described as “germs” by colleagues.
“This should be considered a human rights issue,” the association said. “We strongly protest and demand that the situation be rectified.”