Guwahati: As the Covid-19 pandemic continues claiming lives of journalists across the world, the Switzerland based media watchdog Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) warns scribes not to take the novel coronavirus infection lightly. Mentioning about popular Indian television news presenter Vikas Sharma, who died of post-corona complications, the PEC highlighted the persisting danger even after recovering from the infection.
“Till date, we have recorded the deaths of 747 journalists in 64 countries since 1 March 2020, where Peru remains the country with heaviest casualties with 95 dead followed by Mexico (84 victims), Brazil (78), India (55), Italy (45), Bangladesh (44), Ecuador (42), USA (38), Pakistan (23), Great Britain (22), Turkey (21), Panama (16), Ukraine (14), Russia & Bolivia (12 each), Colombia & Spain (10 each) etc,” informs PEC secretary-general Blaise Lempen. Dominican Republic (8), Nigeria (8), South Africa (7), Argentina (7), Honduras (7), Egypt, Nicaragua & Venezuela (6 each), France (5), Cameroon, Guatemala, Iran, El Salvador & Zimbabwe (3 each), Algeria, Morocco, Paraguay, Portugal & Sweden (2 each), Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Poland, Uruguay, Israel, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Iraq (Kurdistan), Kenya, Lebanon, Mozambique, Uganda, Azerbaijan (one each), etc follow them.
Mentionable is that Republic Bharat anchor Vikas (35) recovered from Covid-19. But lately, the nationalist scribe started feeling unwell for some days and later he was admitted to Kailash Hospital in Noida, where he finally succumbed to post-corona complications on 4 February 2021. The Kanpur guy, who got admirations as a talented, courageous and responsible scribe, left behind his wife, two minor children and a host of relatives & well-wishers. Meanwhile, messages of mourning start pouring over his sudden demise from different corners.
The PEC, while offering condolences to families and colleagues of the deceased, started a corona-ticker to pay tribute to those media workers died during the pandemic. Media workers have an important role to play in the fight against the virus as they have to inform about the spread of Covid-19. Their safety is at risk as they must continue
to report from the ground and hence the PEC supports the request for early vaccinations for journalists on the frontlines.
Bharat has comparatively shown improvement in the casualties of media persons in nearly two months with only two dead (prior to Vikas Sharma, Marathi scribe Nandkumar Sonar died on 24 January). A day before, an Indian origin UK based radio journalist Sujata Barot died after contracting the virus. Earlier, the robust media fraternity of the south Asian nation lost Malayala journalist D Vijayamohan to the
Covid-19 complications on 15 December.
