Hostility towards docs, nurses  

Currently, the city of Dhaka is witnessing things which were unthinkable even a month ago. With the ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic gaining increased ferocity by the day, troubling spectacles continue to unfold. All of those are linked to different aspects of the disease's spread. Despite the rising intensity of the pandemic's prevalence, the city residents in general keep defying the preventive measures in reckless abandon. Ironically, amid these instances of noncompliance, cases of misconceived precaution have occupied a remarkably dominant place. Many of them fall in the category of mindless excesses. They are resorted to by a section of landlords. These house-owners have recently made news for their unwarranted treatment meted out to their tenants directly related to the medical profession, at hospitals in particular. It's saddening to note that a large segment of these landlords have served a shocking notice on their nurse- and doctor-tenants. Suspecting them to be carriers of Covid-19 virus, the landlords have allegedly asked them to vacate their rented apartments at the earliest.

The doctors and nurses residing at rented houses, many with families, now find themselves in a tight spot. The evidently insensitive house-owners have gone to such a length that they have placed two absurd options before the doctors and nurses: either remain out of their apartments as long as the pandemic lasts or shut themselves within the confines of their houses. Some landlords have applied this rule to all medical professionals irrespective of their fields of work. As a result, doctors and nurses working at hospitals dealing with heart disease or at an orthopaedic hospital equally fall victim to the fiat of the landlords. These stances of a section of them defy reason. The incredible part of the episode is even the doctors and nurses clad in foolproof protective gear are also drawing the ire of landlords.

The hostile attitude of these landlords leads to one single conclusion: their atrociously insufficient knowledge about maintaining and helping others maintain 'social distancing' made now compulsory. The unflinching commitment of doctors to save the lives of Covid-19 positive cases across the world is a shining example of service to humanity. Dedicated nurses are found beside them. The combined battle of the doctors and nurses waged to cope with the onslaught of the global pandemic has already found a place in modern history. The service rendered by medical professionals also accompanies supreme sacrifices --- deaths of more than a hundred doctors and nurses across the world.

Bangladesh does not lag behind. According to a doctors' forum in the country, a total of 345 physicians at different hospitals were infected with Covid-19 until April 25.An assistant professor passed away at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital in mid-April after testing positive for Covid-19. Against this backdrop of the selfless contribution of doctors and nurses to save lives and stop the spread of the pandemic's virus, the maltreatment of them by a section of Dhaka's landlords is indeed painful. Of their presumably repugnant practices, the humiliation of the healthcare professionals living as their tenants speaks singularly of their general ignorance; and their detachment from realities. It's really painful to see that the folly of a segment of house-owners invites infamy for the whole landlord community. It will be a travesty of truth to say that the authorities are unaware of the inconveniences facing the doctors and nurses living at rented apartments in Dhaka. It has been learnt of late that the health-sector authorities are mulling special residential facilities for medical professionals on the premises of dedicated hospitals dealing with Covid-19 cases. It would, undoubtedly, be a highly pragmatic step.