CAIRO: The burial of an Egyptian doctor who died from coronavirus was delayed by residents trying to prevent her funeral from taking place in the village’s cemetery, fearing the spread of the virus, her son has told Arab News.
Security forces managed to disperse angry crowds in the village in Dakahlia governorate, north of Cairo, before the doctor, Sonia Abdel-Azim, was buried.
The incident reflects a worrying trend of some Egyptians changing their perception of doctors, from heroes to carriers of the virus.
Dr. Ahmed Al-Hindawi, Abdel-Azim’s son, told Arab News that a mob had gathered around the road leading to the grave site to prevent the ambulance from reaching the cemetery. Ambulance windows were smashed by rocks thrown by crowds, forcing the procession to wait for police and the governorate’s security director to arrive.
Al-Hindawi said negotiations with villagers in order to bury his mother continued for a full five hours. He said he failed to reach an agreement, despite the fact that the washing, shrouding and burial ceremonies had been carried out in accordance with the Ministry of Health’s medical standards.
He said his mother was diabetic and had had problems with her foot, which had been operated on for gangrene. He said his mother was in intensive care, then went to Al-Sadr Hospital when her health deteriorated. She later tested positive for coronavirus.
There have been other incidents of hostility toward healthcare workers in Egypt since the outbreak.
Dr. Dina Magdy, who works in Ismailia’s Fever Hospital, had to move to a new residence, which was relatively isolated, as a precaution. Even so, crowds demanded she be kicked out of her house, claiming she was infected with coronavirus.
Magdy said she was harassed by residents who accused her of transmitting the disease to them. She said in a video that was posted on social media that residents claimed they were in possession of a report stating she was infected, prompting her to call police.
On Friday the people of Bolus village in Kafr El-Dawwar, Beheira governorate, refused to bury the mother of a doctor who died from the coronavirus after contracting the disease from her son. Security forces intervened, clashing with villagers in a dawn confrontation.
In another incident a nurse at Al-Sadr Hospital, also in Dakahlia, was bullied after she became infected. She said she cried when her phone number and those of her colleagues were posted on social media. She added she had received calls accusing her of being the source of the pandemic and the reason for its spread.
"We are sick and in agony, and suffering from a bad psychological state,” the nurse said in a video circulated among Facebook users.
“People are supposed to thank and appreciate doctors fighting the coronavirus because they are risking their lives on a regular basis,” chest diseases consultant and president of the Egyptian Society for Allergy and Immunology Dr. Nabil Al-Dabaraki told Arab News.
Al-Dabaraki said different cultures and the low level of awareness among some people could be blamed for the harassment doctors were facing.
He said it indicated ignorance and shortsightedness by some because the causes of the infection were well known and could not be measured in that way.
"What happened with some doctors is unacceptable, but they are isolated actions, because the majority of citizens appreciate the effort that doctors are making," Secretary-General of the Medical Union Ehab Al-Taher told Arab News.
The General Union of Egyptian Physicians had initially monitored the death of three doctors and the infection of 43 others, and indicated that the number of patients would increase.
By Saturday, Egypt had registered 1,939 coronavirus cases and 146 deaths.
