Two doctors injured in Madhya Pradesh after healthcare workers, civic officials attacked by Indore mob

Two doctors were injured in Madhya Pradesh after healthcare workers and civic officials were attacked by a mob in an Indore neighbourhood on Wednesday while screening residents for coronavirus, according to media reports. Two healthcare workers dressed in light blue personal protective equipment suits can be seen running from locals throwing stones, as per  a report in NDTV.

#WATCH Madhya Pradesh: Locals of Tatpatti Bakhal in Indore pelt stones at health workers who were there to screen people, in wake of #Coronavirus outbreak. A case has been registered. (Note-Abusive language) (1.04.2020) pic.twitter.com/vkfOwYrfxK

— ANI (@ANI) April 1, 2020

The attack occurred allegedly in Indore’s Tatpatti Bakhal area after an elderly woman, suspected to have come in contact with a coronavirus disease patient, was asked to accompany the team to a hospital for diagnostic tests, as per a report in  Hindustan Times. “We have been visiting the locality for the past three days for the screening of residents. We had information about a person coming in contact with a COVID-19 patient…We were talking to the person (the elderly woman) when, all of a sudden, residents got agitated and attacked us,” one of the doctors told Hindustan Times.

“Two female doctors suffered injuries. They managed to save themselves by hiding behind the jeep of a tehsildar,” Praveen Jadia, chief medical and health officer, Indore further told the newspaper. This is the second time in a week healthcare workers have been attacked in Indore, which, with 69 positive cases, has emerged as a coronavirus hotspot in Madhya Pradesh. ANI reported that a case has been registered against unknown individuals. As per  a report in  DNA, _s_imilar reports have been received from Hyderabad, where doctors at the Gandhi hospital were attacked allegedly by a mob after a patient infected with COVID-19 died. In Delhi, doctors at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) appealed for help after health workers were reportedly evicted from their rented residences by panicking landlords under suspicions of coronavirus, as per the report. With inputs from agencies