Stigma against recovered COVID-19 patients seems to continue despite awareness created by the government. Recently, the Rajamangalam police inspector rescued a 70-year-old homeless woman in Rajan Nagar who was reportedly denied entry to where she used to sleep, by residents of an apartment complex.
According to S. Rajkumar who is the Rajamangalam inspector, Dhanam (70) is a homeless woman. She used to work at different apartment complexes in Rajan Nagar and sleep outside these buildings. Recently one of the residents, outside whose house she used to sleep in, tested positive for COVID-19. “On July 9, Dhanam complained of fever. A representative of Udhavum Karangal informed me about this and with the help of sanitary inspector Shankar, we sent her to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. She also tested positive and was provided treatment there, and she recovered fully,” explained the inspector.
On July 27, she was discharged and dropped outside the house where she was picked up from, in Rajan Nagar. “However the residents refused to allow her to stay like before. I came to know about this and tried to convince the residents. But they refused, stating that they could not risk the health of other elderly persons in the building. Each one gave a different reason,” added Mr. Rajkumar.
The inspector then called the sanitary inspector again, and sent Ms. Dhanam back to the hospital. “She will be there for two days and will then be given a certificate stating that she is negative. After this, she will be admitted to an a old age home,” he added.
Recently, the T. Nagar deputy commissioner V.N. Harikiran Prasad helped Radha Amma, an elderly domestic help from K.K. Nagar, who recovered from COVID-19 to get her job back. Residents of the apartment block where she worked, were reluctant to allow her to work again till the police officer intervened.