Returnees in K Badze quarantine centre claim they were not screened on arrival
Morung Express News
Dimapur | May 17
A few minutes after they arrived at the NER Agri Expo site in Dimapur on March 14, Ali* and the batch of returnees from Shillong, were asked to sanitize their hands and fill up a form with their particulars and submit it to the district wise counters set up at the reception.
Subsequently, they were provided dinner and sent for screening.
But when they reached the screening area, “they told us that only those people who are going to stay in Dimapur will be screened and those of us heading to Kohima were not screened,” Ali claimed.
At around 3:00 am, almost four hours after they arrived, Ali and 39 other people boarded a bus and were taken to a state government-run Khriesanuomia Badze quarantine centre at P Khel, Kohima village, about 71 kms from Dimapur.
At around 7:00 am when they arrived at their destination, the returnees were again asked to register and sent to their respective rooms, without any screening.
The last time any of them were screened was before they boarded the bus at Nagaland House, Shillong, on May 14.
Speaking to The Morung Express, Ali pointed out that cases in neighbouring states like Assam and Manipur have been spiking as many returnees have been testing positive for COVID-19. She also expressed concern that cross-contamination among people in quarantine might occur in case there are undetected positive cases in the centre. “Shouldn’t the authorities ensure that screening is conducted before putting so many of us in quarantine?” she questioned.
Similarly, Akhrie* who is also at K Badze, says that there are more than a hundred people currently lodged at K Badze, and “no one is enforcing social distancing.”
According to Akhrie, the only interaction with whoever is in-charge of the centre is the PA system announcements at regular intervals, informing them of dinner, lunch timings etc. “While I try my best to stay at a safe distance from other people, barely anyone follows social distancing so I don’t know if I am safe,” he added.
Another concern that was raised by both Ali and Akhrie was that people in quarantine were being asked to serve food to their fellow ‘inmates.’ This, they viewed, was ‘unsafe’ as people who are quarantined are done so because they are a potential threat to others. “It defeats the whole purpose of being quarantined,” said Akhrie.
In addition to this, they claimed that the cooked rice that was brought in for them was “brought in a container through the dusty road, without a lid on.”
Ali informed that this resulted in an argument on Sunday morning and some people contacted the State COVID-19 control room. “We got a response from them that they are solely responsible only for medical related issues and they aren't aware of how or what food is served to us,” she stated.
“When we asked for contact numbers of the concerned authority, they told us that they didn’t know,” she claimed.
While we are grateful to the government for providing free transportation, free food and accommodation, Ali stated that basic requirements like screening and social distancing measures should be ensured. “We are not asking for luxuries. We just want to feel safe too,” she added.
(*Names changed on request)
