The Central government on Wednesday asked media persons to exercise due caution while reporting on the coronavirus outbreak following reports that many newsmen had themselves contracted the disease. Some other states including Delhi have decided to test journalists for the virus.
In an advisory, the ministry said that recently media-persons in various parts of the country have contracted COVID-19 in their line of work.
The ministry advised media persons including reporters, cameramen, photographers etc, who are covering incidents related to Covid-19 outbreak in various parts of the country and are involved in travel to, among other places, containment zones, hotspots and other Covid affected areas, to take due health and related precautions while performing their duties.
The Ministry also requested the management of media houses to take necessary care of their field staff as well as the office staff.
Earlier, following reports of over 50 journalists being found coronavirus positive in Mumbai, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar had said that precautions should be taken by all.
“It is shocking that more than 50 journalists of electronic media, particularly camera persons, have been found to be corona positive in Mumbai. Every journalist should take proper care,” said Javadekar in a post on social media platform Twitter on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}“It is shocking that more than 50 journalists of electronic media, particularly camera persons, have been found to be corona positive in Mumbai. Every journalist should take proper care,” said Javadekar in a post on social media platform Twitter on Monday.
{{/usCountry}}The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had announced on Monday that 53 journalists in Mumbai had tested positive for COVID-19.
The HT Guide to Coronavirus COVID-19
Some journalists from a Tamil news TV channel in Chennai have tested positive for the infection in a fresh incident involving scribes, reported ANI. Another report said that in Telangana, four media persons working for vernacular news channels have been quarantined after coming in contact with another person under home quarantine.
The advisory follows a decision by Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, Delhi and Rajasthan governments to arrange COVID-19 tests for media persons. While Rajasthan has decided to set up a two day special camp for the purpose, Delhi health minister Satyendra Jain didn’t specify any details. He, however, said that any media person could come forward to get himself tested.