Many Delhi returnees fearful of stay at quarantine centres

Sarfaraz Ahmed | TNN | Updated: Apr 8, 2020, 11:04 IST

Lockdown in Nagpur

NAGPUR: Several Delhi returnees, including some Muslims, on Tuesday said they fear contracting the Covid-19 virus during their stay at the institutional quarantine centres set up at MLA Hostel, Ravi Bhavan and Vanamati.
After learning about the release of 12 foreign returnees from Lonara on Monday, around 40 such persons from other centres too demanded that they be allowed to go home where they can be in self-isolation.
TOI had on April 7 reported about NMC’s U-turn on picking up flyers on Sunday night and releasing them next day that too without taking samples for testing.
In several WhatsApp messages to TOI and authorities, the quarantined persons said most of them have spent over a month at home after returning from Nizamuddin in Delhi, but never fell ill or developed any Covid-19 symptoms.
Making a similar point like the 12 foreign-returned persons, they said how would the administration know if they contracted the disease at Delhi or at the quarantine centre where people from all over are being brought. They also claimed that they were promised to be relieved in a day once their samples were collected.
“NMC doctors told me that they just needed me for 4 hours. I was assured to be dropped home once my medical check-up is done and sample collected,” claims an agitated man in an audio clip sent on WhatsApp.
“Six days have passed, but no one is telling us either about the test result or our return,” said a government official.
A Barelvi Muslim man from Teka said he had gone to Delhi to bring his wife back from her parent’s home. “Twenty days have passed since we returned. Around 50 persons came to pick us up. It created panic and sent a wrong message in the society about our family. People have literally ostracized us in the locality,” he said.
“We have no information,” is the only answer we get from police and civic officials whenever we ask for updates, the inmates claimed.
“We have no problem here. But some of us have elderly parents who are alone now. Who will take my 79-year-old ailing mother to hospital?” said another inmate.
“I am not feeling safe in my stay at Ravi Bhavan. We were 27 inmates in first four days. Now it’s 81. Requesting you to kindly look into the matter and ensure we do not get infected,” reads a message sent to the authorities.
Another aggrieved government official said, “I returned from Delhi on March 15. When I went to office, I was examined by our CMO. An NMC team came to my home on April 2 and told me that I have to go with them for testing. Till now, we have not received any reports. No one is ready to speak now. Sheer failure of the government system.”
Civic chief Tukaram Mundhe and district collector Ravindra Thakare didn’t respond to TOI calls and messages.