The Punjab government on Friday decided to rescind its earlier decision of putting posters outside the houses of COVID-19 patients under home isolation or quarantine to mitigate the stigma attached to the pandemic.

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh said the move was aimed at minimising the stigma resulting from the affixing of such posters at the front doors of such patients, thus also negating the fear of testing.

“The psychological trauma which patients were seen suffering as a result of these posters, which were meant to protect neighbours, was defeating the very purpose,” he said, adding that these posters were actually found scaring people away from testing.

“The undesirable and unintended consequences of these posters included social isolation and stigma, leading to anxiety and prejudices against the patients. People would refrain from getting tested to avoid this stigma instead of extending support to the patients and their families, which had prompted a rethink on the decision of affixing posters,” he added.

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The Chief Minister urged the people to continue taking all necessary precautions and follow all applicable guidelines for home isolation-quarantine notwithstanding the removal of the posters. Violation of these guidelines was a punishable offence under the Disaster Management Act, the Epidemic Diseases Act and the Indian Penal Code, he pointed out.

Notably, the State government had recently allowed home isolation for asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic patients, who did not suffer from any co-morbidities, as per the protocol of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the recommendations of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).