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Italy-returned HP student recounts ordeal
From attending class at Bocconi University in Italy’s Milan to waiting for her coronavirus test result at a Delhi-based army hostel after being rescued on March
From attending class at Bocconi University in Italy’s Milan to waiting for her coronavirus test result at a Delhi-based army hostel after being rescued on March 14, a 26-year-old Rohini Sethi from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh recounts how she faced difficulty getting tested for the virus in Italy and boarding flight back to India.
“It was on February 22 that we were informed that the university has suspended our classes.”
“On February 23, I stepped out of my apartment to stock essentials like everyone else. I was appalled to see how Milan went crazy. People were fighting over a loaf of bread, but yet I failed to realise gravity of the situation,” she says.
I stayed indoors for next three weeks while the count of infected in Italy increased from 80 to over 1500 patients.
“After three weeks, my family pleaded me to come back to home. I was such a rush that I booked my tickets on March 8 for Milan-Delhi Air India flight for March 10,” she recounts.
On March 10, Rohini left for Delhi. “I was expecting some difficulty on reaching Delhi airport because of my travel history, however, at Milan Airport, Air India staff refused to allow us on board without Covid19 negative certificate, she says, adding that hundreds of students, including her, failed to furnish required document and were left behind.
She says many students from other countries visited Italian hospitals for help but officials refused to co-operate. “They were overwhelmed with their own patients, why would they waste their testing kits on some foreign students?” says Rohini.
After three days of panic, wait and endless calls to the Indian Embassy, Rohini was informed that all students (211) in Italy will be evacuated by the Government of India on March 14.
She remembers how on arrival they weren’t allowed to de-board the flight. “Our flight was confined at the runway where our temperatures were checked. Later, we were taken to Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ISBP) Camp in Chhawala, Delhi, military buses for quarantine.”
It was a hostel with reasonable facilities. “We were provided with soaps, shampoos, tissues, sanitisers and masks. We weren’t given any separate rooms but our beds had one-meter distance. We were told that the passengers from all such flights were kept in batches at various camps for 14 days of quarantine,” Rohini adds.
Subsequently, our swab tests were conducted, whose reports are awaited. “I am hoping i will be tested negative so that I can go home as soon as possible,” she adds.
