Hundreds of journalists in India succumb to Covid

NEW DELHI: Journalists have paid a heavy price while doing their jobs covering the pandemic in India. But the federal government has yet to recognise them as frontline workers, foreign media reported on Thursday.

Not recognising journalists as frontline workers meant that they were not given priority in the vaccination programme in many states For journalists covering the coronavirus health crisis in India, the past

year has been a horrific time, with over 230 of them succumbing to the disease, which they contracted while documenting what’s happening across the country. During the ongoing devastating second wave of the virus, on average three journalists died every day due to COVID in April. That figure climbed to four per day in May.

The second wave has claimed the lives of several senior journalists and local reporters working in districts, towns and villages across different Indian states. A recent report by the Delhi-based Institute of Perception Studies revealed that during India’s first wave of the pandemic between April and December 2020, 56 journalists died of COVID-19.

In comparison, during India’s second wave of pandemic between April 1 and May 16 this year, 171 journalists died of COVID-19. The remaining journalists died between January and April, according to the report.