Discrimination against people who recover from COVID-19 is not uncommon
Hameedha Bee, 103, bravely fought the battle against COVID-19 and recovered but when she came home from the hospital, her neighbours instead of welcoming her allegedly asked her to vacate the house. The centenarian lives with her family at Ambur in Tamil Nadu, one of the worst coronavirus-hit states in India.
After allegations of discrimination made by Hameeda Bee's family, an enquiry was started on Wednesday. A team of officials led by the Revenue Divisional Officer, Gayathri Subramani visited the family. "The day we came to know that Hameedha Bee was 103, we took special care of her," the village administrative officer said, adding that her age was based on information provided by the family but there were no records and the family has lost her Aadhar Card.
"We are trying to provide pension for the lady. Though she is from a different taluka, we are working expeditiously to provide Hameedha Bee old age pension," officials told news agency PTI.
Hameedha Bee had tested positive for COVID-19 and was treated at the General Hospital in Ambur for a week. Authorities said, she responded well to the treatment and recovered.
When asked about what has been done for the safety of the elderly woman and her family in the backdrop of the allegations, officers said, the local village administrative officer and his assistant have been specifically assigned to take care of Hameedha Bee.
"Even today, we visited her; gave her fruits and she is doing good. We have thoroughly enquired about allegations of harassment and all steps are in place to ensure that they are safe," the officer said. Health workers are "sensitising the people that the elderly woman tested negative during exit screening and she has also gone through a seven-day quarantine after recovery," the senior officer added.