Dozens of journalists die from coronavirus since March, NGO says

Dozens of journalists have died worldwide from the novel coronavirus in the past two months, a press freedom organization said Friday, lamenting that media workers often lack proper protection for covering the pandemic.

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) warned that many journalists were putting themselves in harm’s way to report on the global crisis, with many falling ill from COVID-19 themselves in the process.

Since March 1, the PEC said it had recorded the deaths of 55 media workers across 23 countries from the virus, although it stressed that it remained 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.

Dozens of journalists have died worldwide from the novel coronavirus in the past two months, a press freedom organization said Friday, lamenting that media workers often lack proper protection for covering the pandemic.

Ahead of World Press Freedom Day on Sunday, the Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) warned that many journalists were putting themselves in harm’s way to report on the global crisis, with many falling ill from COVID-19 themselves in the process.

Since March 1, the PEC said it had recorded the deaths of 55 media workers across 23 countries from the virus, although it stressed that it remained 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.

“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 life-saving in a health crisis,” it said. (AFP)