Minister’s infected house help reignites apartment fears
Residents say allowing in maids can open the door to community spread of Covid
BENGALURU:
The fact that a household as seemingly secure from the threat of the coronavirus as that of Medical Education Minister Dr K Sudhakar also had a chink in its armour – in the form of an infected domestic help – has reignited fears and debates among apartment residents over allowing in domestic staff.
Along with the servant, the minister’s father, and later his wife and daughter, tested positive, while fortuitously Sudhakar himself and his two sons tested negative.
Sudhakar openly announced the development on his twitter profile.
ನಮ್ಮ ಮನೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಹಾಯಕರಾಗಿ ಕೆಲಸ ನಿರ್ವಹಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದ ವ್ಯಕ್ತಿಗೂ ಕೊರೋನಾ ಸೋಂಕು ಇರುವುದು ದೃಢಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದು, ಅವರೂ ಕೂಡ ನಿಗದಿತ ಆಸ್ಪತ್ರೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಚಿಕಿತ್ಸೆ ಪಡೆಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ.
— Dr Sudhakar K (@mla_sudhakar) June 22, 2020
ಅವರೂ ಬೇಗ ಗುಣಮುಖರಾಗಲಿ ಎಂದು ನಮ್ಮ ಪ್ರಾರ್ಥನೆ.
Should they, shouldn’t they…
The high-profile Covid case has cast the spotlight again on whether maidservants should be allowed in houses and apartment complexes, considering the possibility that they could be ‘super spreaders’.
A resident of an upscale apartment complex in Koramangala said that though the managing committee in his apartment has restricted delivery services like food, milk and newspapers till the gate of the complex, maids are still being allowed in. “The problem is that hired maids are from nearby localities and allowing them in could start a community spread kind of situation. But it is a difficult task to convince those residents who are fully dependent on these maids,” he said.
“We do not want to allow even relatives into our apartment complex but it is becoming a headache to convince people about the threat of the coronavirus. People are still not serious despite Bengaluru’s surge of positive cases,” said another resident of the apartment.
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