A message in media and social media has gone viral that doctors treating coronavirus patients in Agra are forced to wear polythene bags to cover their faces in isolation wards. Taking cognisance of a report published in Dainik Jagran, the District Magistrate of Agra took to Twitter to expose the lies peddled by ‘journalist’ Vinod Kapri about the scarcity of protective gears and masks for doctors treating the coronavirus patients in the district hospital in Agra.
The article shared by ‘journalist’ Vinod Kapri read that there is astonishing unavailability of safety equipment such as protective masks in Agra district hospital that doctors have to wear polythene bags on their faces in order to safeguard themselves from contracting the contagion while treating the positive coronavirus patients. A photo accompanied Kapri’s report in which a doctor can be seen wearing a polythene bag after wearing a mask on his face.
उत्तरप्रदेश के आगरा के ज़िला अस्पताल के #IsolationWard में पॉलिथीन के सहारे कोरोना से लड़ते डॉक्टर pic.twitter.com/t9Qbes68tY
— Vinod Kapri #IamStayingHome #DontGoOut (@vinodkapri) April 14, 2020
However, the official Twitter account of Agra District Magistrate rubbished the claims stating that doctors and healthcare workers working in the district hospital in Agra have been provided with N95 grade masks and gloves as per the Indian Council of Medical Research(ICMR) mandate and are not wearing polythene bags.
ICMR के निर्देशानुसार ड्यूटी डॉक्टर/स्टाफ को N95 मास्क/दस्ताने पहनना जरूरी है। प्रचारित फोटो में बालरोग के डॉक्टर(आइसोलेशन वार्ड नही देखते) दोनों चीजें पहने हैं। इसके अलावा बचाव हेतु उपयोग वस्तु, वह उनकी अपनी सूझबूझ है। इस वक्त हर कोई अपने को सुरक्षित रखना चाहते है। #TruthPlease pic.twitter.com/u89ZudiErY
— District Magistrate Agra (@OfficeOfDMAgra) April 14, 2020
Debunking the lies purveyed by Kapri, the Agra DM says that the concerned doctor whose picture is published in the article is a Pediatric doctor who is not authorised to oversee the Isolation Ward for coronavirus patients. In addition, Agra DM further said that the doctor in the picture can be seen wearing both the polythene bag as well as the N-95 grade mask, adding that in the times of such a grave medical crisis, everyone seeks to protect himself/herself according to his/her understanding and through all the means available at their disposal.
Vinod Kapri, serial offender
However, this is not the first time that Vinod Kapri is accused of milking a tragedy to peddle his petty propaganda. Last year, a journalist named Abhishek Upadhyay claimed that controversial journalist Vinod Kapri used the misfortune of a newborn to promote himself and his movie ‘Pihu’. In a series of tweets, Upadhyay claimed that Kapri had planted stories in Indian as well as international media houses that he had already adopted the newborn child.
The incident occurred when a group of villagers from Barnel village rescued a newborn baby from a garbage dump and admitted the newborn child to the nearest hospital at Nagaur, Rajasthan. However, contrary to this some media houses claimed that journalist himself had rescued the baby. According to the journalist, Vinod Kapri himself planted stories in newspapers claiming that he had himself rescued the baby and shared those news reports on his timeline despite the fact that he did not rescue the baby in the first place. As per Dainik Bhaskar reports, it was a group of villagers who had rescued the girl-child.
