People confuse UP's Korauna with coronavirus, villagers face discrimination

“No one is willing to come out; people are terrified in our village. When we tell people we are from Korauna, they avoid us," a local said

Moneycontrol News

March 30, 2020 / 12:42 PM IST

A village in Uttar Pradesh (UP) is bearing the brunt for having its name rhyme with the novel coronavirus. People from Korauna, located in the Sitapur district of UP, are facing discrimination from outsiders ever since the outbreak of the infectious disease.

“No one is willing to come out; people are terrified in our village. When we tell people we are from Korauna, they avoid us. They don't understand that it's a village, not someone infected with the virus," Rajan, one of the residents of the village, told ANI.

He further added that other people are so scared that they do not even want to answer phone calls.

Another resident, Sunil, shared a similar concern with the news agency, “If we are out on roads and the police enquire where we are headed to and we tell them that we are going to Korauna, they look unsettled. What can we possibly do if our village has such a name?”, he asked.

Ramji Dixit, another local, said, “ When we call people and tell them that we are calling from Korauna, they immediately cut our calls thinking someone is playing a joke on them.”

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

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What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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