Employees of the Indian State of Uttar Pradesh were caught on video spraying some migrant workers with bleach disinfectant that is typically used to sanitize buses. According to an officer in charge of Covid-19 operations in this state, around 5,000 people have been sprayed. They claim that they were just disinfecting the people from the virus. However, the method of disinfecting is controversial. The chemical disinfectants can be dangerous and they have no effect when the virus is within people. A couple of Indian officials have said that the actions of the employees were unnecessary and overzealous. The affected workers are under medical surveillance. This event connects to the issue of migrant workers in India. 45 million migrant workers have been moving from cities back to their rural hometowns after losing their job due to the pandemic. Officials have been ordered to find migrant workers and quarantine them for 14 days to prevent the spread of the virus.
- Do you think that people will continue to react to the coronavirus situation in negative ways similar to this?
- Do you think India is handling the migrant workers the right way?
- What do you propose India should do to confront the coronavirus problem especially considering their huge population and immense poverty?
I think that people would continue to react to this situation in negative ways because people will always take unnecessary and meaningless precautions. I think that India is not handling the migrant workers well because like mentioned in the article, they were sprayed with disinfectant that was supposed to be used for buses. This shows how the people aren't treated how they are supposed to be treated.
ReplyDeleteI think that people will continue to react to the coronavirus situation in negative ways because there is a lot of misinformation being spread around which can lead people to make decisions that are incorrect. A good example is this situation where the employees seem to be misinformed and are spraying dangerous chemicals directly on workers that don't even have an effect on the virus within the person.
ReplyDeleteHonestly not to bad I mean India has already started whiping people with sticks and stuff for not abiding to the shelter in place. I mean might as well go the whole 9 yards if your going to take some rights away might as well take them all away.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that India are handling the migrant workers the right way because spraying them with this disinfectant is harmful to their health. If they simply made them go in quarantine or set up more hand washing and sanitizing stations, that would be better. The 14 day quarantine should be enough and if they really want to do something, they can have these rural areas that the workers are going back to go on lockdown for a little while. They could also test the workers after a week or so to see if they test positive for COVID-19. The new Roche test which was created in Sweden could be a big help as it seems to be the most efficient test so far. By keeping the workers in quarantine until they test negative for COVID-19 with the Roche test, India can insure the health of the workers and others without resorting to over the top and harmful methods such as spraying them with disinfectant.
ReplyDeleteSource: https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/13/coronavirus-testing-long-way-to-go/
I think that people will continue to act this way towards the Coronavirus. Many feel uneasy and go to these unnecessary measures if it makes them feel "safer". However, India is doing a poor job managing the outbreak of Covid-19 and spraying people with disinfectant chemicals is completely unnecessary. The only way to minimize the amount of Coronavirus cases is social distancing. If India wants to get a grip on the pandemic, they need to enforce a shelter in place order for the Indian citizens and make sure everyone stays home.
ReplyDeleteI think people will always overreact or react too little when faced with something like the coronavirus. People are always either panicking too much and too soon or they aren't doing enough and just don't care. According to this article: https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/03/asia/india-doctors-coronavirus-intl-hnk/index.html, the first person to die in India's largest slum happened today. Knowing how poor and cramped conditions are in India along with the fact that India does not have a great healthcare system or health base, Indians are probably very on alert. I would not be surprised if the Indian government overreacts again and does something that mirrors this incident. India is definitely not handling migrant workers the right way because they are people not buses or houses that can be sprayed on with chemicals. India should go into immediate lockdown of everything. They must prepare their hospitals for a huge influx of people. They also need to have food and financial aid to support those affected by the virus.
ReplyDeleteI don't think India is handling the migrant workers correctly. There are many other way that the situation could have been handled. For example, a less harmful and sustainable disinfectant meant for the use on humans could've been used. I agree that the employees actions were unnecessary and a bit over dramatic. During this time, people can't help but panic and take all sorts of precautions. The panic of the employees is most likely what drove them to take action. The migrant workers have been struggling financially, so the fact that they are having to pay for medical assistance after this event could dig deeper into their small income.
ReplyDelete-kylie koo
DeleteI don't think India is handling the migrant workers correctly. There are many other way that the situation could have been handled. For example, a less harmful and sustainable disinfectant meant for the use on humans could've been used. I agree that the employees actions were unnecessary and a bit over dramatic. During this time, people can't help but panic and take all sorts of precautions. The panic of the employees is most likely what drove them to take action. The migrant workers have been struggling financially, so the fact that they are having to pay for medical assistance after this event could dig deeper into their small income.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that this was meant to hurt anyone and therefore is not inherently negative. I just think that these government workers were doing what they thought was right based on their limited information or knowledge. I think that quarantining the migrant workers is a good idea to stop the spread of the virus. I don't think that spraying them with bleach is a good idea though. After quarantine is lifted there will be another spike of people who get it and I think that is inevitable, but I think that they are reducing the number of people who will get it.
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