Villagers stop health officials, destroy COVID sample kits in Haryana's Fatehabad

Fatehabad (Haryana) [India], September 2 (ANI): Villagers allegedly stopped health officials and destroyed COVID19 sample collection kits at Nakta in Fatehabad district of Haryana, said police on Wednesday.
According to the police, the incident happened on Tuesday after the death of a COVID-19 positive patient in the village.
Ajaib Singh, DSP Fatehabad Police said, "After the death of a positive patient in the Nakta village, medical teams went to collect samples of persons on Tuesday. But, villagers destroyed the kits. We have registered the complaint filed by health officials. We will arrest the accused persons soon."
"On demands of health officials, Station House Officers (SHOs) have been directed to help health officials when they go out in villages to collect samples and do other health-related works," he added.
Health officials have said that they will not perform their duty until they get security.
Dr Bharat Singh, Senior Medical Officer, Ratia said, "Our team went in Nakta village to collect samples. The villagers attacked our team and burned our testing kits. We will not go to any village to provide our services until we get security."
Dr Vishnu, District Epidemic Officer, Fatehabad said, "We will not go to the village until we get adequate security. We will go to collect samples after the administration assures us that there will be no such incidents in the future."
According to the state health department, a total of 1,792 COVID-19 positive cases were reported on Wednesday in Haryana, taking the state's total tally to 68,218 cases including 54,875 patients discharged/recovered and 721 deaths. (ANI)