Coronavirus: At 5 Delhi quarantine facilities, passports taken, complaints over hygiene

“The floors are covered by layers of dust. Large parts of the facility are under construction. How can one live under such conditions?” said a person who along with his family arrived from Germany on Monday and were quarantined in Delhi’s Narela.

News reports about people “escaping” quarantine centres over the 2019 novel coronavirus infections across cities have revived focus on the conditions of such centres in terms of hygiene, security and amenities. These centres, usually outside of hospitals, cater to those who are suspected of having the virus but are yet to show any symptoms.

A photo of one of the centres provided by a quarantined person (Sourced)

The first such centre was the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) camp in south-west Delhi’s Chhawla. It initially housed Indian students who arrived from Wuhan, China where the disease first broke.

Over the last few weeks, ever since the first confirmed case was reported from the Capital on March 2, eight more centres, including three luxury hotels, have been set up to cater to Indians who arrived from affected nations but are asymptomatic.

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Apart from the three popular hotels that have offered paid services, the five others house such individuals for free.

These include Delhi Development Authority (DDA) apartments in Narela, a Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) apartment and a police training academy in Dwarka, DDA apartments in Sultanpur, and a dharamshala in Chhatarpur. Currently, 180 people are lodged at the five centres against the total capacity of 1,000, said a senior official in Delhi’s health department.

Tuesday, Hindustan Times spoke over phone to individuals presently lodged in the quarantine centres in Narela, Dwarka, Sultanpur and Chhatarpur.

Their passports have been taken by immigration officials allegedly fearing attempts to escape quarantine, and a large number of police personnel– attired in hazmat suits– have been deployed at these centres to keep a watch on individuals, said two divisional magistrates in charge of separate centres.

“The floors are covered by layers of dust. Large parts of the facility are under construction. How can one live under such conditions?” said a person who along with his family arrived from Germany on Monday and were quarantined in Narela. The DDA facility for them was unoccupied apartments constructed for allotment to people belonging to economically weaker sections.

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DDA vice-chairman Tarun Kapoor said, “We had to turn these unoccupied apartments into isolation centres in 48 hours. That in itself was a challenge and we did our best. These flats have electricity, water and sewer connections. We have also provided the guests with beds, mattresses, towels, toiletries and other essentials. However, there are no geysers in these flats. So, warm water is sent to them by our staff on individual request through buckets. We are providing the people with every facility they need there.”

“In the facility where I am lodged (a Jain Dharamshala in Chhatarpur), things are pretty clean and there is not much to complain about. Above all, it’s my health and protection from the virus that matters,” said a student who arrived from Paris.

Bipin Rai, DUSIB member, said: “The rooms have water connection, functional toilets, clean mattresses, sheets and all essential things. We have a team which is tasked with taking requests and complaints of the people lodged in the facility.”

“The toilets are in a bad shape and can be another health hazard. There is a security issue as most bathroom doors are broken. It also shows under what conditions police officers in the country have to live and get trained. It is disgusting,” said another person who arrived from Spain and was lodged at a police training academy, converted into an isolation centre, in Dwarka. This person later went to one of the three luxury hotels.

When asked about the conditions of the training centre, Special Commissioner of Delhi Police (Training) Sunil Garg said, “We have provided the facility. For anything related to functioning of isolation camps, one has to talk to the district magistrate.”

District Magistrate (south-west Delhi) Rahul Singh said that parts of the training academy are in bad shape and his team is working round-the-clock in repairing the facility and making it up to the mark. “Currently, all guests lodged here have left for the hotels. We hardly had 24 hours to set up the facility. We cleaned he buildings and did our best to make all essentials things available. Now we have some more time to work on this centre,” he said.

“There are hundreds of people who were initially released after basic screening. The government is keeping close tab on them. If any of them are found to show symptoms, they will have to be isolated. We will use these facilities for that too,” said the official who did not wish to be identified.