An 89-year-old man and his 74-year-old wife, residents of Ashoknagar in North 24-Parganas, had fever and arranged for a visit by a health worker to collect samples for the Covid test. Their help told them that she could not work for them because some neighbours asked her not to.
A doctor at a private hospital, who lives in a complex near Garia, had fever for five days but was scared to get a Covid test done fearing ostracisation. She later suffered severe breathlessness and had to be admitted to hospital.
Covid patients and their families across the city are still pariahs to a section of neighbours.