Telangana: Row over patients in crematorium for isolation

HYDERABAD: Stopped from setting foot in their village, three Covid-19 patients from Khanapur village of Narayankhed took shelter at a crematorium on Thursday. Hours later, they were shifted to a hospital after local health officials intervened.
Confirming the development — it came to fore through a video widely shared across social networking sites — on Friday, Rajarshi Shah, additional collector of Sangareddy, said that the three were isolated at the cremetorium as “villagers objected to their entry into their village”.
“As these were the first positive cases in the village, the gram panchayat ordered that the trio be sent to a school first. But since there was work going on there, they were moved to the cremation centre,” M R Rathod, the district medical health officer (DMHO), told TOI. He added that the patients were at the crematorium for a few hours before officials intervened and sent them back home. From there, the three were finally moved to MNR Hospital in Sangareddy on Friday.
Sharp reactions from activists
While one of the patients who TOI contacted said that they moved to the premises on their own accord as their “house was being sprayed”, it attracted sharp reactions from activists. “There is huge taboo associated with contracting the virus. The isolation of three people without needed medical attention at the crematorium is wrong. This would only increase the stigma they face,” said activist Harish Daga who was working on the case with the locals.