A journalist succumbed to COVID-19 in Tirupati on Thursday. The deceased was identified as Madhusudhan Reddy, a Kadapa-based staff reporter working for an online media channel.
Mr. Reddy was initially admitted to the COVID-19 hospital at Fatima College in Kadapa after he suffered from breathlessness. In an audio clip going viral on social media groups of working journalists, he had drawn attention to the lack of proper medical infrastructure at the hospital.
After his condition worsened, he was shifted to the State COVID-19 Hospital operating out of the SVIMS campus in Tirupati, where he passed away on Friday.
This is the second death of a journalist in the district. Earlier this week, M. Parthasarathy, a videographer working for a private television news channel, died of COVID-19.
The two incidents happening in quick succession has shocked the media fraternity. Leaders of journalist unions have appealed to scribes to strictly follow social distancing norms in order to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
