Lucknow: Chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday said, the state government will amend the old Epidemic Diseases Act very soon. The state government will bring in the new Epidemic Disease Control Ordinance – 2020, in the state, to protect corona warriors after several incidents of attacks on doctors and police have been reported during the corona pandemic.


The government has decided to change the current situation in the existing Epidemic Diseases Act 1897. Sanitation workers, police personnel, medical staff, frontline workers including any official appointed by the government will be covered in the new ordinance.

As per the ordinance, people who attack or discriminate against corona warriors will face strict action and such acts will be punishable with up to 7 years imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh.

In this ordinance, there will also be stringent punishment for spitting, breaking isolation rules along with assault on officials. In recent days, several cases were reported in the state where sanitation workers, police personnel, medical staff, frontline workers were attacked by miscreants and anti-social elements. On April 15, more than 17 people attacked doctors, medical staff, policemen and team, when they went to Nawabpura locality of Moradabad to obtain samples to test for coronavirus.

Later on, five of the attackers were found to be corona positive after state authorities charged them under the National Security Act (NSA). CM Yogi Adityanath has already given instructions to the district administration to take strict action against the attackers.

In a similar incident, a medical team and police officials faced stone-pelting by a huge Muslim mob in Kanpur district on Wednesday, when they went to collect samples in the area.