Decision evokes mixed response

Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 6

The Punjab Government’s move to revoke its earlier decision of putting posters outside the houses of Covid positive patients under home isolation or quarantine has evoked mixed reactions from people in the district.

While everyone agrees that the stigma attached with being a Covid patient has to end, not everyone is convinced that removing the posters is the right decision.

“The move is fraught with great risk. It can backfire. What will the government do then?” asked VB Gupta, a retired Punjab Government employee and a resident of Phase VII, Mohali.

Questions are being raised if putting posters leads to ostracisation of the affected family, then the government should have considered it before.

“I think the health experts must have weighed the advantages and disadvantages of doing away with the practice. Obviously, a big spurt in cases everyday is one of the reasons for the move,” said Rajat Chauhan, a Zirakpur-based private practitioner.

Two clinicians, who are dealing with Covid patients in government hospitals, did not wish to comment on the poster debate but emphasised that the underprivileged section was still not understanding the gravity of the situation.

“Awareness regarding wearing a mask and washing hands has been created, but a lot of people still do not understand how grave the situation can be,” said a medical officer of the Mohali subdivision.

The move is aimed at minimising the stigma resulting from such posters at the doors of patients. In some cases, it has been found that the affected family removes the poster from the door as it is pasted with a gum, and therefore, easily removable.

People are also complaining that the Health Department is not informing neighbours so that they may take precautions. A Covid patient, who has now recovered, narrated an instance of his paranoid neighbour, who objected to the patient coming out in his balcony. Another person, who was home-quarantined recently, said: “Government officials have been very cooperative with us, but the way neighbours ostracise a family is detrimental to the mental health. So, not putting up posters may be okay.”

Nitesh Bhardwaj, a resident of Sector 78, said: “A family in our building is under home quarantine. So, the garbage collector has stopped coming to pick up the garbage. It has been five days that garbage has not been picked up from my house. I fear that if neighbours see me going out to throw the garbage in the dustbin, they may object to it.”