Andalib Akhter

The dreaded Covid-19 pandemic continues to claim the lives of journalists around the world. At least 1,356 journalists have died in 76 countries so far from the disease since March 2020.

Alarmingly India is at the top of the list of countries where media persons are succumbing to the pandemic.

With 200 deaths, India is at the top of the list of countries where journalists died of COVID followed by Brazil (194). In India, 68 journalists have died from Covid since the beginning of May, an average of four a day, a majority of them in their 40s or 50s.

While most people across India and around the globe are largely confined to their homes with businesses and educational institutions all shut down in an attempt to contain the virus, and on the other hand doctors, healthcare workers, media persons are working day and night from the front during the pandemic.

Putting their lives at risk with selfless determination for the sake of saving lives, While they are putting their own health, families, and most importantly their own lives at risk doing yeomen service for the society.

According to Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), the Switzerland-based media rights and safety body, India has overtaken Brazil in the number of journalists who died of Covid-19. Outside India, the largest hike in numbers been in recent weeks in Colombia, Argentina and Nepal.

"The pandemic continues to ravage the media community in South Asia and Latin America, as the death toll has declined elsewhere," said PEC.

"Immunization remains insufficient in developing countries and journalists in these countries pay a very high price for having to inform," said General Secretary of PEC Blaise Lampen.

According to PEC India Representative Nava Thakuria, the actual number of Covid-19 victims is certainly higher, as many media houses avoid reporting their own victims as well as corona-positive colleagues.

India is rapidly losing scribes to the pandemic almost four individuals per day, which is alarming. "Some of the recent journo-victims to Covid-19 in India include SarojTripathi, Anjan Bandyopadhyay, Rajesh Pati, Kailash Chandra Sahoo, Ratikant Bal, Bishnu Prasad Patra, Sunil Jain, Mohammad Ali, Mahadev Prakash, SandipJagdale, Jayatheerth Kagalkar, AR Wig, Akhilesh Kr Mohan, Satyendra P Srivastava, Sumanta Mohanty, Prakash Deshpande, RattanLal, Shishir Dwivedi, Shiv A Pateria, Shivacharan Kalita, Rubul Dihingiya, etc.

Earlier this month India has witnessed the demise of journalists Sarat Chandra Mangaraj, Kishore Ch Das, Waqar Rizvi, Arvind Shukla, Umashankar Santhalia, Sant Sharan Awasthi, Vipin Chand, Subhash Mishra, Kaleswaram Sandeep, D Shankar Rao, Rajendra Joshi, Pradeep K Sahu, Shesh N Singh, Kalyan Barooah, Nilakshi, etc to corona-aggravated ailments.

After India and Brazil, Peru has the most victims among journalists(140) ahead of Mexico (109), Colombia (61), Italy (55), Bangladesh (52), the United States (49), Ecuador (48), Great Britain (28), Argentina (27), Dominican Republic (27), Pakistan (26), Turkey (25), Iran ( 21), Russia (21), Venezuela (19), Panama (16), Bolivia (16),Spain (15), and Ukraine (15).