While one doctor was taken hostage by the locals, and another doctor and technician were seriously injured, police called in an imam of a local mosque to help control the situation.
A medical team working to fight Covid-19 in Moradabad district in Uttar Pradesh has been attacked by locals.
Moradabad, which has popped up as an emerging hotspot of Covid-19 in the state this week, saw locals damaging an ambulance, pelting stones on it and attacking members of a team from the health department.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that the culprits will be dealt with strongly.
He has directed the district police administration to identify the culprits and to take strong action against them.
He also said that the damage and loss to public property by the culprits will be looked into and monies recovered from them.
He also said that the attack on the frontline warriors fighting Covid-19 round the clock was a serious crime. Condemning it, he added that action will be taken against the culprits under the National Security Act.
Jagran said in its report : “चिकित्सकों की टीम को पिटता देख पुलिस की टीम भी भाग खड़ी हुई (witnessing the attack on the health workers, the police team absconded from there).
A doctor has been hurt in the stone pelting. The members of the medical team have been hit by stones and pieces of brick.
Another doctor and a technician have been seriously injured. The team had to withdraw from the spot owing to the attack on them.
One doctor was taken hostage by the locals. Additional police forces have been sent to the area.
The health department team was in the Nawabpura Mohalla area to proceed with the quarantine protocol of members of a family affected by the virus.
The district magistrate and the superintendent of police rushed to the spot and local imam was summoned.
Moradabad saw a sudden spurt in cases this week, as three people quarantined in a hospital were found Covid-positive and 14 people quarantined in two institutions were found Covid-positive. These people were quarantined on 9 April. In all, 260 people have been quarantined.
This Amar Ujala report says that there are fears regarding how many people, including the attendants of the patients admitted at the two institutions for treatment of other diseases, might have come in contact with the suspected Covid-19 patients.