A group of people from Kuwait landed in Chennai on Monday expecting that they can avail paid institutional quarantine facility in the city hotels. Upon arrival, they realised that they had been cheated by agents. Without a reservation, they were forced to move to government quarantine facilities.
Zubeda*, who's traveling with a pregnant woman passenger, said that they were immediately told to leave to a government quarantine centre in Avadi. But, the quarantine centre lacked even basic facilities and they even had to encounter snakes and other reptiles inside the room allotted to them, they allege.
The reportedly unhygienic conditions in government quarantine centres, especially in the outskirts, has become a cause of concern for travelers. Even people arriving for emergency situations are forced to undergo 14 or seven days institutional quarantine in the facilities, they said.
For the passengers from Kuwait, the coronavirus test result came back as negative on Friday but they were told to undergo quarantine till Monday. Zubeda came to Chennai to visit her grandfather in Trichy who is in a serious condition. She was expecting a paid or home quarantine but she had to go for government quarantine. Zubeda said that she now fears contracting the virus due to the poor condition of the rooms.
The Tamil Nadu government has made institutional quarantine (paid or government) mandatory for people coming from abroad. The state government did not implement the Standard Operating Procedure announced by the Central government permitting travelers to avail home quarantine facility with COVID-19 negative certificate. The Tamil Nadu government said that they will decide on the SOP later.
However, some people visiting India continue to be unaware of the mandatory institutional quarantine.
Zubeda said, “The test results have come and we all are negative for coronavirus infection. However, they are not allowing us to leave the centre. They want us to stay in the quarantine facility for seven days but the sanitation condition is poor and four women are forced to share a dusty room.”
“The insects are coming here and I also saw snakes. The restrooms are filled with sand and gravel. The food was not provided on time until Thursday. The pregnant co-passenger just says she wants to go home immediately. They are not leaving us even for emergencies. The rooms are also unclean. There are no sanitary products or even soaps,” she said.
Zubeda claims she paid Rs 60,000 for a paid quarantine facility in Chennai like a few of the other co-passengers, but she was cheated by fraudsters posing as agents. “The agents took a total of Rs 80,000 for flight ticket, quarantine, food and test. Upon arrival, we were told to leave for the government facility. We told them that we won’t go but they made us come here. The men drink and knock on the doors of the rooms at night. We are unable to even sleep. Only on Friday the police arrived and they have told us that they will give protection to us. We have to stay here for three more days,” she said.
The only reason for continuing the stay, she says, is to skip the separate quarantine period in her hometown. “I am forced to adjust and stay in this place because only if I finish the quarantine period can I avoid staying in another facility in my hometown,” Zubeda said.
TNM reached out to the Avadi Corporation for comment but the officials were unavailable.
Zubeda and her co-passengers are not the only people forced to face poor conditions in government quarantine centres. Sakir*, who returned from Russia, also had to face a similar situation. He also alleges that there was inadequate medical attention.
Sakir stayed in a government quarantine facility in Saveetha Medical College in Thiruvallur district. Sakir has allergies and developed a stomach ache after eating food from outside. However, the medical professionals in the quarantine centre did not give the requested tablet, he alleged. “The medical professionals in the quarantine facility did not give me the medicine I requested for. As a doctor, I know the tablet they gave me was for ulcer but I had asked them for a tablet for diarrhea. They told me that they would buy it and give, but they did not give it,” he said.
“I told them that I will get the tablet from my father but they did not allow him to come. After two days, I got another medicine from a friend and I had to use that medicine,” he said. He also alleged that there was no room service and the workers rarely cleaned the rooms.
The government centre for treating coronavirus patients is also no different in some cases.
Anish*, who was receiving treatment for COVID-19 in a government facility, also alleged that access to tablets was delayed due to shortage of staff. Most of the time one nurse has to monitor more than 30 patients, he said.
Anish* tested positive for coronavirus in June at the Chromepet Government Hospital and was sent to Chengalpattu Government Hospital for treatment since the beds were full. After a week of treatment in Chengalpattu GH, he was shifted to a quarantine centre in Bharat University of Selaiyur. The sanitation condition was pathetic in the quarantine facility, he said.
Anish said, “I told them to shift me to home quarantine but they advised me to continue institutional quarantine. I did not have any symptoms except fever for one day. So with much hesitation I went to the centre in Selaiyur and like I expected, there was no sanitiser and the rooms were not disinfected frequently. Even the paper and other dust were picked up only after two days.”
Though people came to clean the restroom, the toilet was maintained badly and there was no soap or sanitiser kept near washrooms.
TNM has reached out to Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan for comment and the copy will be updated once we receive a response.
*Names changed on request