On Thursday, the Delhi administration decided to stop putting up posters in the homes of people who are in home isolation after contracting the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), and officials said they recognized the unnecessary stigma associated with the pathogen. and they trusted that they were doing it. if the measure were removed, more people would be encouraged to get tested.
District officials have been asked to remove the posters from outside the residences of Covid-19 patients currently in home isolation – 12,890 people, according to Thursday’s health bulletin. However, monitoring of each home isolation patient will continue as usual, a government official said.
The decision received the final nod at Tuesday’s meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), which is headed by Deputy Governor Anil Baijal. Chief Secretary Vijay Dev communicated the instructions to all district magistrates and top watchdog officials in 11 fiscal districts on Wednesday, a second government official said.
“At this point, people are quite aware of Covid-19. We have intensified our impulses of consciousness. The decision to remove the posters is aimed at reducing doubts among people. It happens because there is a stigma associated with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), Dev told HT.
“This measure should improve the efficiency of the government’s strategy to combat Covid-19 and break the chain of transmission earlier. The monitoring of each patient in home isolation will continue but there will be no posters, “he added.
On the government’s decision, Delhi Minister Kailash Gahlot said: “There is a stigma with the coronavirus disease and the posters outside the house amplify that. By removing this, our goal is to increase testing. We want more people to get tested without thinking about stigmata. “
Signs posted outside the homes of people in home isolation list the patient’s home number, the date the individual tested positive, and the date the home isolation is supposed to end. The posters contain a revelation that there is a Covid-19 patient in the house. In fact, they allowed surrounding people to ensure their own safety and encouraged them to monitor whether the patient was violating isolation rules.
But there have also been reports that it has led to social stigma in some neighborhoods.
“The installation of domestic insulation is a great initiative in the management of Covid-19. But people in my neighborhood discriminated against me and left me out of residents’ welfare meetings, people avoided having conversations, etc. That is not scientific. Removing the posters can help several patients with that, at least symbolically, ”said a patient who recovered from Covid-19 on July 28 at his residence in Tilak Nagar, West Delhi.
On September 30, the Delhi High Court requested the Delhi government’s response to a petition filed by an advocate seeking to eliminate the practice of pasting such posters by citing the right to protect a person’s privacy.
“The government has come across cases where people were hesitant to get tested for Covid-19 for fear of stigma. And then the symptoms became severe. Some of those patients were hospitalized. That is why this step was necessary, ”said a second senior government official who asked not to be identified.
Delhi registered 2,726 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the city’s accumulated infections to 300,833 so far. The total number of deaths related to the viral disease in the city is 5,653. About 53,322 tests were performed in the last 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 5.11%, according to data from the Delhi government.
The experts welcomed the decision.
Dr Jugal Kishore, Head of the Community Medicines Department at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, said: “This is a welcome move. Such posters were leading to widespread discrimination of Covid-19 patients. It is the responsibility of the state to protect people from such discrimination. Cases can be so efficiently monitored without such posters. Among people in home isolation, awareness of Covid-19 should come from within. Awareness campaigns and community involvement by the government can play an important role. “
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