Some people in Calcutta and neighbouring areas are trying to fight, literally on the streets, the stigma attached to Covid by preventing attempts to barricade a patient’s house.

They are taking pulse oximeters to an infected person to check the oxygen level in his/her blood and organising street plays to make people aware of the misconceptions regarding Covid.

Earlier this week, a convention was arranged at Ashoknagar in North 24-Parganas where representatives of political parties, voluntary organisations, local clubs, and many doctors were present.

They discussed how to allay the fear of Covid among people. A group comprising young people of the neighbourhood has been formed. They provide Covid patients with pulse oximeters to check if the level of oxygen in their blood is satisfactory.

“Several months after the outbreak of the pandemic, there is still an illogical panic and misconception in many people’s minds… often that leads to ostracisation of Covid patients and their relatives. But there are many others who have been coming forward to help such patients and their families,” Abhijit Chowdhury, a public health expert, said.

Chowdhury is the mentor of Covid Care Network, an organisation of doctors, government officials and people who have recovered from Covid.

“We are trying to bring such people under one umbrella. The battle is not only against the disease but also against this social problem. To fight the battle, people’s participation is required and government alone cannot do this,” Chowdhury said.

He and members of Covid Care Network have been conducting meetings and conventions in Calcutta and neighbouring areas with a high prevalence of the coronavirus.

At Ashoknagar, a group of volunteers, mostly members of local clubs, have been motorcycling with pulse oximeters to Covid patients in home isolation to check the level of oxygen in their blood.

Doctors have been asking people in home isolation to check their oxygen level and to get admitted to hospital if it is below the prescribed level because they would need oxygen support.

“We are getting calls on our helpline from people with fever… we are arranging doctors from our panel to provide them with consultancy. Many of these people are scared to get Covid tests done. We are counselling them and helping them get the tests done,” Pradyut Karmakar, convener of Covid Care Network at Ashoknagar and a member of a local club, said.

Volunteers are busy dissuading people from barricading the house of a Covid patient, he said. “Still there is lack of awareness… people think barricading a house will prevent the spread of the virus.”

Another member of the network said there was panic among people regarding hospital admission and treatment cost.

Last week, several street plays were organised by a theatre group in Jadavpur and Garia to make people aware of the misconceptions regarding Covid-19. “Lot of misinformation about Covid is being shared on social media… it is creating confusion and panic among people. Through our play, we are trying to make people more aware,” Saikat Ghosh, director of Uncurtained, a theater group, said.

The group has collaborated with Covid Care Network. “Many people are not wearing masks but they force a Covid patient in home isolation in their area to go to a hospital. Our message is we should maintain distancing rules but not socially abandon anyone because of the virus,” Ghosh said.

There are a few people who stand on the road and watch the play, Ghosh said. “Many can relate to the problems… they say similar things have happened in their neighbourhood.