Crowd fear: Traditional healer told to stop treatment in Shivamogga amid coronavirus outbreak

The district health officer has directed a traditional healer in Sagar taluk to suspend dispensing medicine for a month with a view to prevent crowding of people in the wake of Covid-19 outbreak.

People from across the country visit Narayanamurthy of Narasipura village in Sagar taluk seeking treatment for various diseases and cancer in particular. The medicine is dispensed on Thursdays and Sundays and people standing in the long queue since the previous night is a common sight here.

The health department asked Narayanamurthy to stop the distribution of medicine as people from various parts of the country visit his house for treatment and this may pave the way for the spread of Covid-19 virus. The screening of all the people coming from across the country is an uphill task. As a precautionary measure, the district health officer has taken such a step.

When contacted, District Health Officer Rajesh Suragihalli told DH that officials had orally instructed Murthy to suspend dispensing of medicine as it would lead to a mass gathering. “We have asked him to send medicine to his regular patients by courier,” he said.

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On the other hand, local residents staged a protest urging Murthy to stop distribution of medicine permanently. They alleged that people coming to avail of treatment were creating a nuisance by answering the call of nature by the roadside and throwing water bottles, food wants only. The villagers said that toilets had not been constructed for visitors despite repeated requests. They demanded that the medicine be distributed outside the village.

Murthy told DH that he would not distribute medicines for a month following directions from the district health officer.