NEW DELHI: Home ministry on Sunday asked state governments to ensure that medical teams going for community testing for coronavirus must be given adequate security in advance and that community leaders and peace committees in the regions should be roped in by the local police before the medical teams begin their work.The ministry’s directions, announced by MHA joint secretary Punya Salila Srivastava , came on the heels of an increasing number of cases where medical teams and personnel who had gone to clusters to test corona positive patients faced, in some cases, murderous assaults. Earlier this month, a team of doctors and medical staff was attacked by a mob in Moradabad when they went to fetch two suspected cases of the coronavirus in the area. The mob pelted stones at the ambulance and doctors as well as on the police van that came to rescue the health workers. In another such incident, two women resident doctors of Safdarjung Hospital were assaulted by a man who accused them of “spreading” coronavirus in Delhi’s upscale Safdarjung area.Concerns about the welfare of medical personnel was also flagged by the AIIMS and Safdarjung Resident Doctors Association, which dwelt on the difficulties health workers were facing in discharging their duties amid fears of attacks and insults by people.In light of an increasing number of such cases, the MHA on Sunday said district magistrates should ensure patrolling in rural areas with the help of police, panchayat, and revenue officials to ensure strict implementation of national directives, like maintaining social distancing and wearing masks among others, issued in its recent lockdown order.“Medical teams going for community testing of coronavirus must be given adequate security and community leaders and peace committees must be roped in by police before taking the exercise,” Srivastava said.