Coronavirus quarantine in India: no tests, stained toilets and broken beds force some to flee
- Some people have fled quarantine centres in India, complaining of inadequate facilities and the risk of getting the Covid-19 illness
- But the Indian government says it is complying with WHO rules and improving facilities, saying old pictures are being circulated
She was asked to share a dark room with another person. There was no water in the bathroom she had to share with six others. The washbasin and the toilet carried stains from previous use. There was no drinking water.
“The water they gave us to drink was poured from a water tanker. When we refused to drink it, we were asked to drink it directly from the tap,” said Bhalla, who rushed back home from an educational exchange programme in Spain that ended abruptly because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Bhalla sent pictures of the quarantine centre to her mother, who posted them on social media, leading to a public outcry. At about 3am the next day, after spending 12 hours at the centre and hours at the airport, she and many others were allowed to move to a hotel in the city.
“I understand the importance of quarantine but this was not even fulfilling the set conditions of quarantine,” said Bhalla, who is paying US$40 per night for the hotel stay. At her quarantine centre, senior citizens with bad coughs were put into the same room that had put others “at risk of contracting the infection”.
It was the same fear of cross-contamination that forced three doctoral students from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to leave a health care centre. After being self-quarantined for nine days in their respective hostel rooms following their return from Dubai, they were sent to a facility on March 18 where they were made to stay in one room.
