‘Covid patients, suspected cases shared room at isolation centre’

Ludhiana: Can you imagine both suspected and confirmed Covid-19 cases living in the same room? Well, it is a reality in at least one of the quarantine centres in the city, going by what a professional, who had tested positive and stayed there, has to say.
Recounting the experience, the man in his 30s said on June 15, he tested positive and was immediately shifted to Meritorious School institutional quarantine centre.
“I was allotted a room where three other persons were already there. At night, I saw a group of 20-25 persons playing and running after each other, as if they were on a pleasure trip, with nobody to stop them. I also came to know that both confirmed cases and those awaiting their test results had been made to stay in the same room,” said the person.
There were six toilets and six bathrooms for over 20 persons in a block, he said. The worst part was that both categories of patients were using the same washrooms. There were also no stickers to indicate the status of the person occupying a particular bed, he said.
“The quality of food served was also not up to the mark. Although they would provide decent breakfast of two paranthas with curd and pickles, the rotis they served in lunch and dinner were below-average quality. If kept for a while, it would become difficult to chew the rotis,” said the professional, who is in home quarantine now.
He also pointed out there were no books or TV facility for the patients, and they would end up playing with their phones to while away the time. He said the doctor would come around 11am and ask whether any patient had any problem and then give medicines.
“It was a difficult time for me. I would suggest that authorities keep the suspected and positive patients separate and if that is not possible, they should at least have some stickers to indicate individual patient’s status,” he said.