Indian scribe died of Covid-19, PEC urges for alertness
Guwahati, April 1, 2021:
A 48-year-old Indian scribe, Pramod Srivastava died of Covid-19 infection. The deceased was a resident of Uttar Pradesh and was admitted to a hospital after tested positive for Covid-19 on
March 25. He died two days after admitted to the hospital as he was suffering from respiratory complications.
As per the information, a total of 970 journalists died due to covid-19 in 72 countries whereas 58 journalists died only in India.
Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the Switzerland-based organization focusing on the safety of scribes, urged everyone to be alert as the pandemic’s second wave hit many nations.
Peru continues to top the list of corona victims with 135 casualties, whereas Brazil (129 dead) and Mexico (90) follows the country, said
Blaise Lempen, secretary-general of PEC
(https://pressemblem.ch/). The other countries, where journalists died are Italy (51), USA (46), Bangladesh (45), Ecuador (43), Colombia
(38), United Kingdom (28), Pakistan (25), Turkey (22), Panama (16), Spain (15), Bolivia (14), Russia (14), and Ukraine (14).
It may be mentioned the PEC team started a corona-ticker in last March to pay tributes to journalists killed by the pandemic around the
world. As per the PEC, the safety of media workers is particularly at risk in this health-related crisis because they have to continue providing information. Many of them died for lack of adequate protective measures when doing their job. Hence early vaccinations should be provided for the journalists on the frontline, stated Lempen of PEC.
Many other journalists have also tested positive for the infection as they continue playing the role of corona warriors along with the doctors, nurses, and sanitation workers.
PEC’s India representative Nava Thakuria said that as the election process is going on in four major Indian States (Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu with union territory Puducherry) and will continue for a few more days, the reporters on the ground might get infected by the virus.