Doctors and healthcare workers treating COVID-19 patients have been attacked

Highlights Health staff visited locality to screen residents for coronavirus

2 women doctors injured in attack, rescued by police

State has 93 active cases, 7 deaths reported so far

Madhya Pradesh healthcare workers and civic officials were attacked by a mob of angry locals in an Indore neighbourhood on Wednesday, as they visited the area to screen residents for signs of novel coronavirus infection. Two women doctors were injured in the attack and had to be rescued by police. The shocking attack came two days after locals from the Ranipura area of the city allegedly spat at officials and abused them during screening procedures.

In a disturbing video of the attack, two healthcare workers dressed in light blue PPE (personal protective equipment) suits can be seen running from a small group of locals who are throwing stones and what appears to be a large piece of plastic at them.

As the minute-long video plays out, the small group of locals becomes a mob of around 100 angry residents shouting abuses, throwing sticks and stones and chasing them down the narrow lane.

At least two confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection have been reported from the Taat Patti Bakhal of Indore, one of two COVID-19 hotspots in the city, and as many as 54 families have been isolated amid heavy resistance from locals.

Indore has 76 per cent of all coronavirus reported from Madhya Pradesh so far. The state has 93 active cases with seven deaths linked to the virus; the seventh - a 65-year-old woman - was reported by news agency PTI and has yet to be confirmed by the Health Ministry.

Attacks on medical personnel and healthcare workers have worsened over the past few days, with doctors at Hyderabad's Gandhi Hospital alleging they were attacked after a patient infected with the novel coronavirus died of co-morbidity this week.

The doctors at the Hyderabad have claimed protection from the government and an assurance from Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. They have also written to the police.

Reports of attacks on doctors and medical staff have also come in from Surat in Gujarat. News agency AFP quoted Sanjibani Panigrahi as saying she had been accosted while returning home after treating COVID-19 patients.

She said neighbours blocked her at the entrance to her apartment building and threatened "consequences" if she continued to work.

"These are the same people who have happily interacted with me (in the past). Whenever they've faced a problem, I've helped them out," the 36-year-old told AFP, adding, "There is a sense of fear among people. I do understand. But it's like I suddenly became an untouchable".

In Delhi's prestigious AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences), doctors have appealed for help after health workers were evicted from their homes by panicked landlords and housing societies.

Across India the overall number of COVID-19 cases is nearing 2,000

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged people against mistreating doctors and healthcare workers as they battle to save the country from one of the most infectious viral attacks in recent years. He called doctors "incarnations of God" and said those harassing them would face police action.

"In this hour of crisis, those in white coats are the incarnation of God. Today they are saving lives, putting their own lives in danger," the Prime Minister said, interacting via video link with the people of his constituency Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh on the coronavirus crisis.

On Wednesday Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said those treating COVID-19 patients were "no less than soldiers protecting the country". Mr Kejriwal has said Rs 1 crore will be given to families of healthcare workers who died while dealing with coronavirus cases.

Last week, the centre had declared a medical cover of Rs 50 crore for those in the forefront of the fight against the deadly virus. The medical insurance cover was a part of the Rs 1.75 lakh crore package announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

Across India the overall number of COVID-19 cases is nearing 2,000; of these more than 1,600 are active cases and at least 41 deaths have been linked to the virus. Worldwide the virus has infected over 9.3 lakh people and killed nearly 50,000 others.

World 2,98,61,705 Cases 86,13,253 Active 2,03,07,864 Recovered 9,40,588 Deaths Coronavirus has spread to 188 countries. The total confirmed cases worldwide are 2,98,61,705 and 9,40,588 have died; 86,13,253 are active cases and 2,03,07,864 have recovered as on September 17, 2020 at 9:13 am. India 51,18,253 97894 Cases 10,09,976 14043 Active 40,25,079 82719 Recovered 83,198 1132 Deaths In India, there are 51,18,253 confirmed cases including 83,198 deaths. The number of active cases is 10,09,976 and 40,25,079 have recovered as on September 17, 2020 at 8:00 am. State & District Details State Cases Active Recovered Deaths Maharashtra District Cases Akola 757 Aurangabad 1974 Dhule 228 Jalgaon 1039 Mumbai 45478 Mumbai Suburban 5363 Nagpur 692 Nashik 1575 Palghar 1421 Pune 9920 Satara 629 Solapur 1291 Thane 13660 Yavatmal 150 Ahmednagar 190 Amravati 291 Beed 54 Bhandara 41 Buldhana 88 Chandrapur 32 Hingoli 208 Jalna 201 Kolhapur 646 Latur 139 Nanded 176 Nandurbar 42 Parbhani 78 Raigad 1462 Ratnagiri 350 Sangli 145 Gadchiroli 42 gondia 69 Osmanabad 125 Sindhudurg 114 Wardha 11 Washim 13 1121221 23365 297506 5332 792832 17559 30883 474 Andhra Pradesh District Cases Chittoor 319 Guntur 511 Krishna 557 Kurnool 795 Sri Potti Sriramulu Nell* 296 Anantapur 428 East Godavari 356 Prakasam 104 Srikakulam 183 Visakhapatnam 103 West Godavari 199 Y.S.R. 205 Vizianagaram 23 592760 8835 90279 497376 10845 5105 64 Karnataka District Cases Bengaluru Rural 40 Bengaluru Urban 529 Mysuru 107 Bagalkote 103 Ballari 60 Belagavi 337 Bidar 219 Chikkaballapura 149 Dakshina Kannada 179 Dharwad 61 Gadag 45 Kalaburagi 669 Mandya 346 Tumakuru 36 Uttara Kannada 95 Vijayapura 201 Chamarajanagara 0 Chikkamagaluru 19 Chitradurga 14 Davangere 204 Hassan 205 Haveri 24 Kodagu 4 Kolar 29 Koppal 5 Raichur 369 Ramanagara 3 Shivamogga 67 Udupi 1176 Yadgir 538 484990 9725 101645 3090 375809 6580 7536 55 Goa District Cases North Goa 57 South Goa 69 26139 628 5375 273 20445 351 319 4 Tamil Nadu District Cases Chengalpattu 1314 Chennai 23324 Kanchipuram 503 Madurai 322 Namakkal 83 Ranipet 133 Thanjavur 130 Thiruvallur 774 Thiruvarur 67 Tiruppur 116 Vellore 71 Virudhunagar 185 Ariyalur 444 Coimbatore 188 Cuddalore 477 Dharmapuri 15 Dindigul 175 Erode 75 Kallakurichi 324 Kanniyakumari 110 Karur 88 Nagapattinam 99 Perambalur 133 Pudukkottai 53 Ramanathapuram 119 Salem 258 Sivaganga 46 Tenkasi 103 The Nilgiris 17 Theni 129 Tiruchirappalli 119 Tirunelveli 433 Tirupathur 45 Tiruvannamalai 496 Tuticorin 333 Villupuram 509 Krishnagiri 43 519860 5652 46633 464668 5768 8559 57 Kerala District Cases Kannur 357 Kottayam 73 Alappuzha 76 Idukki 40 Kasaragod 333 Kollam 118 Kozhikode 90 Malappuram 119 Palakkad 224 Pathanamthitta 98 Thiruvananthapuram 104 Thrissur 106 Ernakulam 60 Wayanad 36 117863 3830 32775 1549 84608 2267 480 14 Chhattisgarh District Cases Raipur 46 Korba 100 Balod 41 Baloda Bazar 85 Balrampur 17 Bastar 2 Bemetara 21 Bijapur 2 Bilaspur 100 Dantewada 0 Dhamtari 6 Durg 31 Gariyaband 10 Janjgir-Champa 56 Jashpur 77 Kabirdham 52 Kanker 19 Kondagaon 0 Korea 39 Mahasamund 54 Mungeli 87 Narayanpur 0 Raigarh 47 Rajnandgaon 52 Sukma 0 Surajpur 9 Surguja 14 73966 3189 37470 1561 35885 1606 611 22 Telangana District Cases Hyderabad 2475 MedchalMalkajgiri 75 Ranga Reddy 183 Suryapet 87 Vikarabad 40 Warangal Urban 32 Adilabad 22 Jagitial 77 Jangoan 8 Jayashankar Bhupalapally 9 Jogulamba Gadwal 40 Kamareddy 11 Karimnagar 17 Khammam 26 Kumuram Bheem Asifabad 8 Mahabubnagar 30 Mancherial 43 Medak 11 Nalgonda 33 Narayanpet 3 Nirmal 21 Nizamabad 76 RajannaSircilla 16 Sangareddy 26 Bhadradri Kothagudem 5 Mahabubabad 10 Mulugu 3 Nagarkurnool 8 Peddapalli 5 Siddipet 7 Wanaparthy 1 Warangal Rural 4 YadadriBhuvanagiri 40 165003 2159 30443 42 133555 2108 1005 9 Odisha District Cases Baleshwar 190 Bhadrak 137 Jajapur 322 Dhenkanal 36 Kalahandi 33 Kendrapara 164 Khordha 238 Koraput 16 Sundargarh 102 Anugul 26 Balangir 129 Bargarh 16 Boudh 34 Cuttack 155 Deogarh 33 Gajapati 61 Ganjam 581 Jagatsinghapur 91 Jharsuguda 8 Kandhamal 28 Kendujhar 34 Malkangiri 20 Mayurbhanj 73 Nabarangpur 2 Nayagarh 86 Nuapada 69 Puri 103 Rayagada 2 Sambalpur 16 Sonepur 29 162920 4270 32405 138 129859 4121 656 11 Madhya Pradesh District Cases Barwani 60 Bhopal 1880 Dewas 140 Dhar 132 East Nimar 266 Gwalior 211 Indore 3839 Jabalpur 276 Ujjain 799 Agar Malwa 15 Alirajpur 3 Betul 35 Burhanpur 351 Chhindwara 16 Dindori 29 Harda 4 Hoshangabad 37 Khargone 196 Mandsaur 112 Morena 109 Raisen 71 Ratlam 51 Sagar 228 Shajapur 39 Shandol 14 Sheopur 26 Tikamgarh 18 Vidisha 37 Anuppur 22 Ashoknagar 13 Balaghat 9 Bhind 87 Chhatarpur 35 Damoh 26 Datia 12 Guna 8 Jhabua 14 Katni 3 Mandla 15 Narsinghpur 17 Neemuch 319 Niwari 0 Panna 20 Rajgarh 31 Rewa 39 Satna 24 Sehore 12 Seoni 2 Shivpuri 15 Sidhi 17 Singrauli 13 Umaria 10 95515 2462 22136 516 71535 1922 1844 24 Gujarat District Cases Ahmadabad 17125 Anand 107 Arvalli 134 Banas Kantha 147 Bhavnagar 146 Gandhinagar 410 PanchMahals 107 Surat 2311 Vadodara 1555 Bharuch 56 Botad 55 Chhotaudepur 37 Dang 5 Dohad 43 GirSomnath 45 Jamnagar 63 Kachchh 99 Kheda 98 Mahesana 159 Mahisagar 125 Narmada 25 Naysari 35 Patan 105 Rajkot 135 SabarKantha 101 Surendranagar 55 Tapi 6 Valsad 47 Amreli 16 DevbhumiDwarka 22 Junagadh 31 Morbi 4 Porbandar 11 117547 1364 16262 98029 1447 3256 12 Rajasthan District Cases Ajmer 379 Banswara 91 Bharatpur 563 Jaipur 2177 Jhalawar 329 Jodhpur 1748 Kota 503 Nagaur 500 Alwar 90 Barmer 34 Bhilwara 250 Bikaner 112 Chittorgarh 188 Churu 81 Dausa 61 Dholpur 60 Dungarpur 374 Hanumangarh 31 Jaisalmer 53 Jhunjhunu 64 Karauli 17 Pali 352 Rajsamand 140 SawaiMadhopur 26 Sikar 231 Tonk 171 Udaipur 724 Baran 59 Bundi 5 Ganganagar 8 Jalore 164 Pratapgarh 14 Sirohi 130 107680 1782 17049 288 89352 1479 1279 15 Haryana District Cases Faridabad 867 Sonipat 404 Ambala 93 Bhiwani 60 CharkiDadri 43 Fatehabad 38 Gurugram 2950 Hisar 98 Jhajjar 114 Jind 38 Kaithal 48 Karnal 104 Kurukshetra 55 Nuh 68 Palwal 120 Panchkula 39 Panipat 78 Rohtak 145 Sirsa 50 Yamunanagar 19 Mahendragarh 47 Rewari 56 101316 2694 21334 904 78937 1771 1045 19 Uttar Pradesh District Cases Agra 933 Aligarh 215 Amroha 80 Bareilly 17 Bijnor 157 Bulandshahr 166 Firozabad 190 Gautam Buddha Nagar 1119 Kanpur Nagar 286 Lucknow 386 Mathura 129 Meerut 504 Moradabad 252 Muzaffarnagar 117 Rae Bareli 78 Rampur 203 Saharanpur 298 Sant Kabeer Nagar 132 Varanasi 243 Auraiya 37 Ayodhya 120 Azamgarh 138 Baghpat 68 Bahraich 73 Balrampur 49 Banda 27 Basti 214 Bhadohi 60 Budaun 23 Etah 52 Etawah 46 Ghaziabad 794 Ghazipur 159 Gonda 59 Gorakhpur 166 Hapur 225 Hardoi 49 Jalaun 41 Jaunpur 194 Jhansi 41 Kannauj 69 Kasganj 16 Kaushambi 6 Mainpuri 46 Mau 48 Mirzapur 22 Pilibhit 15 Pratapgarh 15 Prayagraj 30 Sambhal 116 Shamli 40 Shravasti 23 Sitapur 32 Sultanpur 97 Unnao 42 Ambedkar Nagar 92 Amethi 206 Ballia 60 Barabanki 168 Chandauli 38 Chitrakoot 4 Deoria 143 Farrukhabad 36 Fatehpur 3 Hamirpur 3 Hathras 43 Kanpur Dehat 4 Kheri 72 Kushi Nagar 67 Lalitpur 3 Maharajganj 85 Mahoba 3 Shahjahanpur 25 Siddharth Nagar 159 Sonbhadra 10 330265 6229 67002 258573 6476 4690 86 Delhi District Cases Central 4817 East 2472 New Delhi 3405 North 3059 North East 1914 North West 5463 Shahdara 1580 South 2329 South East 2446 South West 2391 West 4768 230269 4473 30914 1127 194516 3313 4839 33 Assam District Cases Dhubri 30 Goalpara 19 Marigaon 50 Baksa 14 Barpeta 28 Biswanath 16 Bongaigaon 12 Cachar 80 Charaideo 29 Chirang 6 Darrang 20 Dhemaji 47 Dibrugarh 61 Dima Hasao 86 Golaghat 203 Hailakandi 57 Hojai 89 Jorhat 24 Kamrup 42 Kamrup Metro 276 KarbiAnglong 13 Karimganj 85 Kokrajhar 37 Lakhimpur 57 Majuli 2 Nagaon 143 Nalbari 23 Sivasagar 20 Sonitpur 27 South SalmaraMancachar 4 Tinsukia 84 Udalguri 28 West KarbiAnglong 5 148969 2394 29091 119367 2464 511 19 Sikkim District Cases East District 3 North District 0 South District 3 West District 0 2221 48 480 16 1722 32 19 Bihar District Cases Buxar 134 Gaya 115 Munger 188 Patna 279 Rohtas 256 Arwal 52 Aurangabad 75 Banka 134 Begusarai 243 Bhagalpur 266 Bhojpur 103 Darbhanga 143 Gopalganj 123 Jehanabad 178 Kaimur (bhabua) 105 Lakhisarai 72 Madhepura 82 Madhubani 199 Nalanda 123 Nawada 122 PurbiChamparan 138 Purnia 135 Saran 101 Siwan 139 Vaishali 87 Araria 68 Jamui 47 Katihar 175 Khagaria 253 Kishanganj 75 Muzaffarpur 96 Pashchim Champaran 57 Saharsa 88 Samastipur 139 Sheikhpura 118 Sheohar 20 Sitamarhi 73 Supaul 87 162463 1592 12959 148656 1676 848 12 West Bengal District Cases 24 Paraganas North 1031 24 Paraganas South 281 Darjeeling 97 Howrah 1435 Jalpaiguri 88 Kalimpong 18 Kolkata 2777 Maldah 235 Medinipur East 153 Medinipur West 159 Hooghly 604 Murshidabad 125 Nadia 139 Paschim Bardhaman 70 Purba Bardhaman 130 Alipurduar 39 Bankura 116 Birbhum 206 Coochbehar 210 Dinajpur Dakshin 50 Dinajpur Uttar 216 Jhargram 9 Purulia 66 212383 3237 24147 205 184113 2971 4123 61 Andaman And Nicobar Islands District Cases South Andamans 33 Nicobars 1 North And Middle Andaman 1 3593 19 196 3345 27 52 Puducherry District Cases Pondicherry 111 Karaikal 2 Mahe 4 Yanam 0 21111 510 4770 96 15923 401 418 13 Arunachal Pradesh District Cases Anjaw 0 Changlang 31 Dibang Valley 0 East Kameng 0 East Siang 1 Kamle 0 KraDaadi 0 KurungKumey 0 Leparada 0 Lohit 3 Longding 0 Lower Dibang Valley 0 Lower Siang 0 Lower Subansiri 0 Namsai 2 PakkeKessang 1 Papum Pare 8 Shi Yomi 0 Siang 0 Tawang 1 Tirap 0 Upper Siang 1 Upper Subansiri 0 West Kameng 0 West Siang 1 6692 226 1892 97 4787 129 13 Nagaland District Cases Dimapur 20 Kiphire 3 Kohima 7 Longleng 0 Mokokchung 0 Mon 8 Peren 2 Phek 1 Tuensang 3 Wokha 0 Zunheboto 0 5263 34 1261 3987 42 15 Dadra And Nagar Haveli District Cases Dadra And Nagar Haveli 20 2810 27 233 4 2575 23 2 Jharkhand District Cases Ranchi 148 Bokaro 16 Deoghar 5 Dhanbad 32 Garhwa 80 Giridih 19 Hazaribagh 110 Jamtara 2 Koderma 58 Simdega 48 Chatra 1 Dumka 5 East Singhbum 170 Godda 2 Gumla 28 Khunti 10 Latehar 14 Lohardaga 8 Pakur 4 Palamu 27 Ramgarh 75 Sahebganj 0 SaraikelaKharsawan 20 West Singhbhum 21 66074 1635 14138 20 51357 1607 579 8 Tripura District Cases Gomati 74 North Tripura 14 Dhalai 196 Khowai 24 Sepahijala 174 South Tripura 53 Unakoti 49 West Tripura 45 20676 526 7498 12956 521 222 5 Ladakh District Cases Kargil 77 LehLadakh 43 3535 36 953 15 2536 19 46 2 Jammu And Kashmir District Cases Anantnag 395 Bandipora 175 Shopian 255 Srinagar 300 Baramulla 271 Budgam 110 Ganderbal 37 Jammu 138 Kathua 53 Kulgam 295 Kupwara 231 Rajouri 39 Ramban 151 Reasi 26 Samba 25 Udhampur 155 Mirpur 0 Muzaffarabad 0 Doda 27 Kishtwar 10 Poonch 35 Pulwama 108 58244 1590 19503 825 37809 747 932 18 Himachal Pradesh District Cases Chamba 29 Hamirpur 117 Kangra 105 Sirmaur 11 Solan 32 Una 41 Bilaspur 21 Kinnaur 2 Kullu 4 Lahaul And Spiti 0 Mandi 21 Shimla 10 10795 460 4146 345 6558 114 91 1 Punjab District Cases Jalandhar 297 Ludhiana 293 Patiala 132 Amritsar 485 Barnala 25 Faridkot 74 Firozepur 50 Gurdaspur 154 Hoshiarpur 140 Kapurthala 44 Mansa 31 Moga 65 Pathankot 86 S.A.S Nagar 137 Sangrur 107 Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar (Nawanshahr) 99 Sri Muktsar Sahib 71 Tarn Taran 163 Bathinda 60 Fatehgarh Sahib 57 Fazilka 53 Rupnagar (Ropar) 74 87184 2702 21022 63570 2756 2592 78 Uttarakhand District Cases Haridwar 94 Dehradun 370 Nainital 323 Almora 71 Bageshwar 31 Chamoli 36 Champawat 45 PauriGarhwal 36 Pithoragarh 43 Rudraprayag 30 Tehri Garhwal 110 Udam Singh Nagar 83 Uttar Kashi 24 35947 1540 11068 329 24432 1202 447 9 Manipur District Cases Bishnupur 7 Chandel 5 Churachandpur 32 Imphal East 10 Imphal West 21 Jiribam 3 Kakching 2 Kamjong 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With input from PTI, AFP