Covid-19: Delhi 5-star hotel tells hospital staff in quarantine to vacate rooms

At least 15 nurses and lab technicians who were in quarantine after treating Covid-19 patients for two weeks, were asked late on Friday night to vacate their rooms

At least 15 nurses and lab technicians who were in quarantine after treating Covid-19 patients for two weeks, were asked late on Friday night to vacate their rooms in a five-star hotel where they were put up, because the facility was “only for doctors”, according to several people who were part of this medical team.

A Delhi government order dated March 29 said doctors, nurses and paramedics would work continuously for 14 days, and then go on a 14-day quarantine break. (Pratham Gokhale/HT Photo)

Two registered unions for health care workers — one representing nurses at Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital and the Indian Medical Laboratory Technologist Federation (IMLTF) — have written to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and health minister Satyendar Jain that these nurses and paramedics were made to check out of the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel in East Delhi at around 11.30pm, not provided transportation, and not told where to go for more than two hours by hotel authorities.

In letters sent on Saturday, the unions have asked the government to intervene and called for strict action against those responsible for risking lives by forcing quarantined medical professionals to move out.

A team of 45 doctors, nurses and paramedic staff from various hospitals — including Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital, Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Hospital, Dr Baba Sahib Ambedkar Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital and Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital — were staying at the hotel since they started their 14-day duty period on April 1. This was to be followed by a 14-day quarantine at the hotel starting on April 15, as per a government order issued late last month.

At least three of the nurses and paramedics who were a part of the team alleged that hotel authorities told them that the facility was “only for doctors”, and could not be extended to them. They blamed a lack of coordination between the Delhi government and the hospital administration for the situation.

When contacted, state health minister Jain did not give a specific response to the incident at the Leela. But a senior health department official who asked not to be named said, said they will “look into the incident and discuss the matter with the hospitals”.

The Leela Ambience Convention Hotel declined to comment on the incident.

A Delhi government order dated March 29 said doctors, nurses and paramedics would work continuously for 14 days, and then go on a 14-day quarantine break. The order stated that doctors, nurses and paramedical staff would be provided accommodation for the entire period of 28 days.

“Till the time we were on duty, we were staying at the Leela Ambience Convention Hotel. But as soon as we started our 14-day quarantine, the hotel staff started asking us to check out. All of us have submitted our samples for testing, and the results are not out yet. We do not know how many of us have contracted the infection. Is it safe for us to be walking around the streets?” asked Vivek Singh, a member of the Indian Medical Laboratory Technologist Federation (IMLTF), who was staying at the hotel.

Singh said that they first got a warning from the administration of hotel on April 16, and were asked to shift to a guest house near Ghaziabad. “The confusion was temporarily resolved, but later the hotel staff again gave us a deadline to vacate our rooms. Our hospitals are also not giving us any clarity,” he said.

Nurses from GTB hospital also said that the team were checked out of their rooms on Friday at around 11.30, with no information of an alternative arrangement till 1.30am. They said that they were not even provided transportation to go to a new facility — a guest house in Mayur Vihar.

“We finally moved to the guest house at about 2am. When we got there, the building was locked, but we managed to make a few phone calls and get them to open the rooms. The rooms are dirty, there are dogs roaming the hallways, and we got only a slice of bread and some ketchup for breakfast,” said one of the nurses, who asked not to be named.

Another nurse, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they are supposed to stay in their rooms through the quarantine period and have no contact with others. However, because of the confusion over accommodation, several of her colleagues have decided to go back to their homes.

“We do not want a five-star hotel, we just want to complete our quarantine without infecting anyone,” the nurse said.