Alarm in rural Hry, Hisar village sees 25 deaths in 2 wks

Box:

Villagers resist testing, treatment

Sources say most Covid deaths remain unreported as villagers don’t get themselves tested despite showing symptoms

They say villagers are also hesitant about getting vaccinated

Instead of going to hospitals, they prefer getting treatment from RMPs and quacks

Deepender Deswal

Tribune News Service

Hisar/Bhiwani, May 6

After devastating densely populated cities like Gurugram, the pandemic has started taking its toll on Haryana’s rural areas.

According to reports, Hisar’s Sisay village has witnessed over 25 deaths in the past two weeks. Sources say most of the deaths remain unreported as villagers do not get themselves tested despite showing Covid-like symptoms.

Baljeet Singh of Sisay said around 2-3 deaths were taking place in the village almost every day. Last week, six deaths were reported in a single day. “Most families have their members suffering from Covid-like symptoms, yet they avoiding getting themselves tested,” he said.

Another villager said people were also showing vaccine hesitancy. “Instead of going to hospitals, they prefer going to RMPs and quacks for treatment,” he said.

Ishwar Singh of Balsamand village, where nearly 15 persons died in one week, said, “Some of them had tested positive. Private clinics in the village are flooded with ailing persons.”

In Bhiwani’s Chang village, 10 persons who had high fever and possibly Covid died in the last couple of days. Sarpanch Devender Kumar said, “Three confirmed Covid deaths in the village is alarming for us. We are encouraging people showing symptoms to get themselves tested.”

Deputy Speaker Ranbir Gangwa, who heads the district advisory committee on Covid, today asked the health authorities to identify villages having high number of Covid cases so that necessary action could be taken for its containment.