Condoling corona media-victims

Covid-19 may not be completely gone, but the vast immunisation campaign that has taken place all around the world has greatly delayed the pandemic-induced tragedy.

- NAVA THAKURIA

The number of deaths is significantly decreasing even if hundreds still contract the new coronavirus types. Perhaps it's time to give thanks to the working physicians, nurses, sanitation, and health professionals, as well as the police and press officials, who served as the frontline corona warriors and many of them gave their precious lives in the line of duty.

Along with the mainland, hundreds of people, including the ‘corona warriors’, succumbed to the worldwide health catastrophe that started in the second half of 2019. Assam topped the list of Covid-19 victims with 8,035 fatalities (out of the 746,145 persons who contracted the virus, 738,108 were either treated, discharged, or relocated). With 2,149 fatalities, Manipur followed Assam, where 137,806 people were either treated or migrated and 139,973 individuals were sick. Meghalaya reported 1,628 deaths from the infection among 96,953 people, of whom 95,324 were cured. Tripura lost 941 people, of whom 108,319 were infected and 107,371 were treated. Nagaland recorded 782 casualties, of which 36,029 were infected and 35,247 survived. Mizoram lost 733 people, of whom 239,543 were infected and 238,805 were cured. Sikkim reported 500 deaths, of which 44,862 were infected and 44,356 survived. Arunachal Pradesh has the lowest number of corona casualties (296), of which 67,045 were confirmed cases and 66,748 were cured.

Even though it is unknown exactly how many corona workers perished in the pandemic, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), a Geneva-based organisation that promotes media safety, recorded approximately 2,000 media professionals (and former journalists) as Corona victims up through March 2022. It is believed that the actual number of victims of the pandemic would be higher, as the causes of death were often not specified and, in some cases, were not reported adequately.