Amid coronavirus spread, inmates in quarantine centres in Kashmir question the methods being adopted by the health authorities in these centres.
Shahid Abdullah Bhat, who is in a quarantine centre said,”We (he and others with him) were told to get down from the cab for screening.They took us to a shabby centre and locked the doors. The centre has mudflooring and we just have roof on our heads without the sidewalls.
“People in hundreds are lying on the mattresses in thiscentre, which smell so bad. We are feeling sick here and have not eatenanything for days altogether.
“My aunt slipped in the washroom and got a fracture. Webegged them for the medicines but they denied it, saying they don’t have anysupply in the centre.”
Many other people who are in quarantine in Kashmir echoedBhat. “I am in a hotel for four days and we have been given rooms on doublesharing. However, all of us eat, drink and stay together in the three storeybuilding. Doctors don’t come here for our check up. They call us and ask usabout our wellbeing over phone,” said Muhammad RagibBhat, a student with travelhistory from Bangladesh.
“Four days ago a man appeared and sprayed disinfectant inthe hotel and since then we did not see him again. We don’t have sanitizers andother essential items here. We all are sharing washrooms,” he said.
A student on condition of anonymity said: “I was put inisolation in a reputed hospital in Delhi where I shared the room with fourpeople. All of us were waiting for the blood sample test. We all shared oneroom and used a common washroom. If just one patient would have tested positivefor coronavirus, we all would have been infected. Same is the case withisolation wards in Kashmir.”
She said the authorities should also follow the rule ofsocial distancing by providing separate rooms and washrooms to the people inisolation. “It would minimize the risk of getting the virus and would serve thepurpose of being in isolation,” she said.
When contacted, DC Srinagar Shahid Choudhary said he willtalk to the officials concerned and would surely do his best to help peopleduring this pandemic.