MARGAO
United Kingdom (UK) returned persons, who had tested positive for Covid, besides their contacts, housed in the Margao ESI hospital, find themselves in a piquant situation for no fault of theirs.
Reason: With no testing facility for the new strain of the virus in Goa and the State relying on the Pune laboratory to conduct the tests, most of these UK-returned persons and their contacts have been in quarantine for 8-10 days in the ESI hospital as it takes days for the reports to come from Pune.
Some of them had no option than to spend their Christmas and New Year in the ESI hospital. And, they have not been allowed to opt for home food and have to be content with the food supplied by the contractor.
That’s not all. These persons pointed out they are all housed in open wards, with 15-16 persons using a common washroom, leaving them to wonder whether they are into quarantine in the strict sense of the term. They have raised fears and concerns that all may be affected even if one of them test positive for the Covid mutant strain.
One common question raised by those quarantined in the ESI hospital is why are the authorities taking days to get the test reports from Pune. While the doctors from the hospital have expressed their helplessness in answering the simple question, the inmates have made an appeal to the government and the Health department to explore the possibility of getting the test reports from Pune at the earliest. “I along with others have been quarantined in the ESI hospital since Christmas day. We had tested positive for Covid, but we are all asymptomatic. We are just waiting for the test reports to come from Pune to head home”, informed one person from the hospital.
He added: “We too understand the situation thrown up by the mutant strain, but the authorities should try to get the test reports from Pune as early as possible”.
That the UK-returned persons and their contacts are all housed in the wards sans isolation has thrown up a question or two amongst the inmates on their fate if any one of them is tested positive for the mutant strain. “Though we are all accommodated in the institutional quarantine, there is no quarantine in the strict sense of the term. Around 16 of us are using a common washroom. Just image a situation if any of the inmates tests positive for the Covid strain”, he added.
They also demanded to know why the ESI hospital management and the health authorities are not allowing them to get home food. “We have been provided meals by a contractor. Our pleas to get home food have been turned down. We have no idea why home food is not allowed in the hospital”, remarked another inmate.
