Cases of frontline workers being exposed to coronavirus have been steadily rising across the nation. The latest group of professionals that has been affected is the media. In Chennai, at least 33 journalists so far have tested positive. This comes close on the heels of a whopping 53 media persons found infected in Mumbai alone.

While a lot of establishments were closed when the lockdown was announced, media was placed under the list of exceptions. With journalists acting as force-multipliers in spreading awareness about the pandemic, media houses have invested most of their human resources for its coverage, while taking standard precautions like wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. As the profession demands, journalists need to go to the field, work their contacts and look for developments each day while also attending press meets. Working from home is not possible for reporters and photographers.

Which is why recent visuals of journalists crowding around a minister in Madurai, who along with the collector and commissioner of police was inspecting an arterial stretch of the temple town, were a little disconcerting. While all of them had their masks on, there was hardly any social distancing. Surely the police could have anticipated the problem and made suitable arrangements in advance. As a news channel employee later said, it was a trade-off between social distancing and missing the minister’s bytes. He did not want to be held accountable for the latter, as it could have hurt him professionally. But the trade-off is dangerous for journalists, as jostling for bytes at the risk of their well-being could make them carriers of the virus.

One hopes all stakeholders would be alive to the risk, sensitise their staffers and take all precautions, as advised by the I&B Ministry on Thursday. While the Mumbai Press Club’s request to bring journalists, photojournalists and camerapersons under the umbrella of insurance could be considered, media briefings can be made virtual to stop the situation from getting out of hand.