Door sticker stigma troubles those in quarantine

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:07.04.2020

It’s more than the disease and its symptoms. Chennaiites who call up the corporation’s Covid-19 helpline are worried about the stigma brought in by quarantine stickers pasted outside their houses. Tele-counsellors handling these calls are fighting to eradicate the stigma and beat callers’ anxiety.

A team comprising doctors, Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials and 80 volunteers from Loyola College, reachs out to thousands of people in home quarantine over phone and answers calls from public to GCC helpline (044 -4612 2300).

In case of those in home quarantine, the team first checks if they have developed any symptoms like cough or cold. If yes, a rapid response team is sent to the spot.

Or else, the team comes up with a series of follow-up questions to check if they are facing any psychosocial issues like depression, loneliness or stigma.

Even before counsellors finish their inquiry about symptoms, callers ask about stickers as there is a lot of fear and anxiety about stigma associated with this, said Andrew Sesuraj, an assistant professor from Loyola who is deployed at this centre. “Only after explaining the importance of following the protocol, they understand and answer our other questions,” he added.

His colleague Gladston Xavier said, “In case they face anxiety or loneliness, we help them in working out an hourto-hour schedule to keep their minds occupied.

They are encouraged to read, paint, make calls to their friends or engage themselves in games or movies etc. They are also advised to exercise at least for an hour everyday, he added. On a positive note, the helpline has so far not received any calls about religious stigmatisation, said other telecounsellors.

As far as calls from public to the helpline are concerned, there has been a spike in number of panic calls related to Phoenix Mall and they are resolved as and then. Most other calls from public are about emergency travel passes, general hygiene and access to food, water and other essentials. GCC’s zonal-level authorities take care of these issues. Besides this, they rarely do get calls from self-quarantine people about their sexual frustrations, said other tele-counsellors.