In Ashok Vihar, red quarantine notices trigger panic among residents

New Delhi

New Delhi

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Till Tuesday evening, north-west Delhi’s Ashok Vihar had 16 houses whose outer walls had been plastered with red notice labels by the district administration announcing that around 25 occupants had been put under home quarantine.

It was last week, on March 19, when a 22-year-old man after having returned home from the United Kingdom had tested positive for Covid-19 and was shifted to a government-run quarantine facility in Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital in Tahirpur.

Government rules mandate that anyone returning to India after travelling abroad or anyone who has come in contact with a carrier/potential carrier of the disease but have not shown symptoms are required to quarantine themselves at home for 14 days. This is mainly because most people who develop symptoms of COVID-19 do so within 12 days of getting infected with the virus. The incubation period varies from 2-14 days, which requires them to be in quarantine for at least two weeks.

According to local resident welfare associations (RWA), initially, neighbours of the 22-year-old — whose houses are under quarantine — had made frantic calls to the association, with some even calling the police, fearing that they might have been infected.

However, as days passed and the city was put under a lockdown from Monday, people have become more accomodating to their neighbours in quarantine.

“Initially, there was some panic in F and H blocks where a number of houses were marked. People started viewing it as a high-risk area. I got calls from many people asking me what to do, as vegetable vendors and domestic helps were still going in and out of all the quarantined houses. We then had to call up families in quarantine and tell them to ensure that outsiders do not enter or exit their houses. People are still anxious,” said HC Gupta, president, Federation of Ashok Vihar RWAs.

The families under isolation have reached an arrangement to ensure that they keep getting their essential supplies.

“Family members of houses under quarantine call up vegetable vendors, who leave the required items at the doorsteps, which they collect later. For groceries too, neighbours have come forward to help buying a bulk of the items and leaving it at their doorsteps to be collected later,” he said.

Gupta added, around 3.5 lakh people reside in Phase I-IV of Ashok Vihar. Despite the lockdown, many people are still stepping out for no reason while some are letting domestic helps in. “We have been issuing circulars repeatedly asking people to stay indoors and take all the precautions. Only one entry gate has been kept open for essential services. Even newspaper vendors have been barred from entering,” he said.

Shashi Aggarwal, a resident of H-block, too confessed that the situation initially was that of panic.

“There were some concerns when the case was detected. However, right now we are following all necessary precautions. Doorbells have been sanitised, entry gates cleaned regularly,” said Aggarwal.

Though an essential service, it was after three days on Tuesday that the garbage collection vehicle had come in the area. On Tuesday, there was a long queue of people holding out their bins to be emptied into the vehicle.

Also, not many were aware of the order that was issued by the Centre-run Swachh Bharat Mission (Urban) on Monday about garbage being generated in residences of those under quarantine to be treated as “biomedical waste which was to be collected separately”.

Yogesh Verma, local councilor and deputy mayor, north corporation, claimed, “We are ensuring sanitation workers reach the respective areas. The order (of treating garbage from quarantine homes as biomedical waste) was issued yesterday, for which an agency has been hired by the Central government that will be collecting the waste from houses under quarantine.”

On Tuesday, people could also be seen queuing up at local pharmacists for medicines for common flu, sanitisers and masks. Ashok Monga, who owns a chemist shop in the nearby market, said, “Throughout the day people kept coming in to ask for medicines for cold and cough. There is a queue for masks and sanitisers, as the number of houses under quarantine here has gone up over past few days. We are using gloves while catering to customers.”

Mayank Kukreja, 22, a resident of F-block who had returned from Ireland eight days ago and has since tested negative for Covid-19, said he had put himself under voluntary self-quarantine.

He is worried for his mother, who has had flu symptoms even before he came back and is planning to get her tested., but local clinics here refused to see patients with cold and cough.

“Though I tested negative, I have remained under isolation ever since my return. We have not let anyone in or out. I am worried about my mother, who had flu like symptoms before I returned. But the clinics here are refusing to treat flu patients and rather asking us to take her to a hospital,” said Kukreja.

Meanwhile, a senior police officer from the north-west district, said that their teams have been communicating all government advisories to residents but still they had been receiving some calls daily. “We are in constant touch with the RWAs. If there is any violation of quarantine rules, we inform the health department. On Tuesday, we received a call from Wazirabad area where the caller informed us that a person had come back from abroad and that we should take him away. We had to counsel them over the phone,” the officer said.