It was on April 1 that Venkannagari Vikas Reddy, a junior doctor at Gandhi Hospital, had got news of a colleague being assaulted by two attendants of a COVID-19 victim. He, along with another junior doctors, later staged a protest against the attack demanding better protection for healthcare professionals, especially those in the frontlines of coronavirus duty. The stir led to a few changes, leaving scope for improvement.
Barely 70 days after that, an eerily similar incident took place. This time, it was Dr Vikas Reddy who was assaulted. Two attendants of another COVID-19 victim attacked him, in which he sustained minor injuries.
Speaking to The Hindu, Dr Vikas Reddy recalled, “They threw a plastic chair at me which I blocked with my hand. Then they threw an iron stool which hit my hip.”
A few minutes after the alleged attack, one of the attendants struggled to breathe. Dr Vikas Reddy along with others checked his blood pressure and other vitals.
Having invested more than eight years of hard work to mould himself into a specialist doctor, he questions why he, or anyone else for that matter, must put up with such hostility.
Currently pursuing third year PG in General Medicine course, Dr Vikas Reddy is among the junior doctors to be attending COVID-19 patients right from March 2 when the first case was detected in the State. Like many of his colleagues, he too has refrained from frequently visiting his family even though they reside in Hyderabad. “I have not gone home for the past one month. I am staying in the college hostel,” he said.