Noida: Hygiene worries at quarantine centre in varsity

Shikha Salaria | TNN | Updated: Apr 15, 2020, 09:29 IST

Pictures and videos of unhygienic conditions have gone viral

NOIDA: With a Noida man allegedly ending his own life, suspected Covid-19 patients serving quarantine period of 14 days in the containment centre at Galgotias University have decried the dismal sanitary conditions at the hostel in Knowledge Park.
Those serving quarantine have alleged that most of the times, they get only tea and biscuit as breakfast and straightaway served lunch after that followed by dinner. Further, social distancing is hardly taken care of as suspected patients line up outside in the open and are made to pick up plates of food kept on a parapet. Pictures and videos of unhygienic conditions prevalent at the hostel of the Galgotias have now gone viral. Speaking to TOI over phone, one of the suspected Covid patients serving quarantine period at the centre for the past days, along with his wife and kids, said they usually get tea with a biscuit around 10 am after which, they may or may not get breakfast. “They usually serve food twice only. The lunch is served around 2.30 pm and the food plates are placed at a parapet in the open, where people gather and social distancing goes for a toss.”
He also claimed that lack of sanitation, especially in the toilets, is a big worry. “At times, sweepers don’t clean the rooms daily and toilets too remain dirty,” he said.
In the video from inside the centre at Galgotias, those residing here complain that they are not getting masks, water bottles, hot water and milk despite requests. Many of those serving quarantine inside this centre and in the District Combined Hospital, Sector 39, have also complained of shortage of masks. When contacted, Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Suhas LY, however, dismissed all the allegations made by some of the suspected patients at Galgotias. “I had sent teams at the spot and got to know that most of the people residing there are satisfied with the sanitation and food.”
He has also made the chief medical officer (CMO) the nodal officer for the quarantine facility and asked the police commissioner to deploy an ACP-level officer to ensure the security of the suspected patients residing inside the facility.