A press freedom organization has claimed that 55 journalists have died worldwide from the novel Coronavirus in the past two months.
The Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), made this known in a statement ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday.
The organization lamented that media workers often lack proper protection for covering the pandemic and warned that many of them were putting their lives in danger.
Since March 1, the PEC said it had recorded the deaths of 55 media workers across 23 countries from the virus, but admitted that it was unclear if all of them had become infected on the job.
“Journalists are at great risk in this health crisis because they must continue to inform, by going to hospitals, interviewing doctors, nurses, political leaders, specialists, scientists, patients,” PEC said in a statement.
It said that in a range of countries “indispensable protective measures” like physical distancing, quarantines, and mask-wearing had not been applied, especially early on in the outbreak.
Ecuador was the hardest-hit country, with at least nine journalists who had succumbed to the virus, followed by the United States, with eight, Brazil with four, and Britain and Spain with three each, it said.
The organization also echoed warnings from the United Nations that the pandemic, which had killed more than 230,000 people out of more than 3.2 million infected worldwide is being used in some countries as an excuse to crackdown on the media.
“Censorship, internet shutdowns, arbitrary detentions of journalists, physical and verbal attacks, and emergency laws that restrict press freedom have occurred in recent weeks,” the PEC said.
It added that this was particularly worrying at a time when access to reliable public information was more vital than ever.
“Transparency is paramount and can be lifesaving in a health crisis,” it said.
Related Post:
- Two of Larry King’s children have died in the past three weeks
- 7 Nigerian Journalists who died within the last 7 days
- ’55 journalists died of COVID-19 in 23 countries between March and April’
- ”The past is past. It didnât work out, we should move on”- Yvonne Jegede reaches out to her ex-husband and other exes
- Five Covid-19 patients are killed in hospital blaze two months after ten died in another hospital fire in Romania (photos)
- “My guy has been stressing for a job for the past 3 years” – Friends mourn man who died a day after he got a job
- Mercy Aigbe Speaks About How The Past Two Weeks Have Been For Her
- “An anonymous person is sending me death threats for the past 2 months” – Eniola Badmus cries out
- Suspected APC thugs attack journalists, injure two, disrupt briefing
- International Press Centre Condemns DSS, Police’ Assault On Two Journalists In Abuja