Locals harass nurse even after she tests Covid negative

Kolkata: Family members of a nurse who tested Covid positive are being allegedly threatened by locals that she either quit the job or leave the house.

According to sources, the said nurse lives at the Roy Bahadur Road (East) area and works at the Command Hospital in Alipore. During the first week of August she tested her swab samples. Despite the test report coming negative, she again tested her swab samples a few days later as she was feeling unwell. On August 10 it was found that she is Covid positive and subsequently got admitted in the same hospital.

As her husband and son were direct contacts of the nurse, their swab samples were also tested but both of them tested Covid negative. However, both of them were staying in home isolation as a precautionary measure.

On August 20 after the nurse tested Covid negative, she was released from the hospital. It is alleged that as soon as she reached home, a section of local residents started harassing them. The neighbours claimed that several people in the vicinity have been infected with Covid virus due to her. They also allegedly obstructed the KMC conservancy workers to collect garbage from the nurse's house.

When the nurse and her family got in touch with the police, cops went to the area and told the residents not to harass the nurse and her family members. It is alleged that the residents are harassing the nurse again. On Monday after her son got in touch with the police, they were assured of necessary assistance.

It may be mentioned that earlier Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had said that the state government will not allow harassment of Covid warriors. She had also instructed police to be strict with those people harassing Covid warriors.