Poor wary of Covid test as they fear loss of income

New Delhi: A new ground report released by NGO Protsahan India Foundation on Covid-19 says every second slum household has members suffering from cold, cough or fever but most of them don’t get tested fearing loss of income and being ostracised by the community should they test positive for the coronavirus.

- Priyangi.Agarwal

Over 65 slum communities in west Delhi, including Dwarka, Uttam Nagar, Hastaal village, and Vikas Nagar, were surveyed between December last year and the current month for the report titled ‘Covid-19 Pulse Check — Ground report 5’.

According to the report, there still is resistance among slum dwellers to getting tested due to the stigma attached to being a Covid patient and the attendant daily wage losses arising from being unable to go to work or being kept away from work because of being infected. The report said most slum residents don’t even wear masks amid many myths about the coronavirus infection abounding among the community.

It took a vigorous awareness campaign before Protsahan was able to get over 70% of the slum dwellers in west Delhi to accept both doses of the Covid vaccine.