Coronavirus: Why Wuhan evacuees at Delhi camp are a nervous lot

NEW DELHI: There was panic at the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) quarantine camp at Delhi’s Chhawla on Wednesday after 14 Italians and one Indian — who were admitted to the facility a day earlier — tested positive for coronavirus.
The other residents, who had returned from China’s Wuhan on the third evacuation flight on February 27, said they had used common spaces in the building like the staircase, a game room and a mess on the ground floor until Tuesday which could have exposed them to the virus.
Coronavirus outbreak: Complete coverage
At present, 112 people — 76 Indians and 36 foreigners — are living in the first, second and fifth floor of the building. On Tuesday, 21 Italian tourists and three Indian tour operators had arrived at the quarantine facility and were moved to the third floor. Throughout the day, nervous residents kept approaching ITBP at the camp, asking them to shift the Italians to a hospital immediately.
Coronavirus outbreak: Live updates
“We were allowed to use the ground floor since all of us had been cleared in the last test. But yesterday we heard on loudspeakers that no one was to step out of the room. People saw some ambulances too so we knew something was going on. But it was only on Wednesday morning that we learned that an Italian group had tested positive. We demanded that either them or us should be shifted,” said one of the residents.
Those who tested positive for the virus were shifted from the building in the evening, ITBP DIG Vivek Pandey confirmed to TOI. He said, “Due procedure was followed and there was no contact between the Italian group which was brought in yesterday and all others. We have been following all safety measures.” A source in ITBP said that the Italians and an Indian who tested positive had been taken to a hospital while few others were sent to the embassy.
Many residents, though, questioned why it took several hours for the authorities to shift those who tested positive. “This is supposed to be a quarantine facility. Confirmed cases should have been shifted immediately,” said a resident. A quarantine facility is to restrict the movement of people who might have been exposed to an infection but who aren’t yet sick. Those with confirmed infections are kept in isolation.
Dr Shalabh Dass, a physician at Jag Parvesh Chandra Hospital, a government-run facility in Delhi, said the risk of infection depends on several factors. “Was there any person-to-person contact with a patient? If yes, then for how long? Also, one’s immunity plays a role and whether people took any precautions like regular use of sanitisers.”
But apprehensions remain. A student at a Wuhan varsity was so worried that they had been in proximity to coronavirus patients that he demanded another round of testing. “All of us should be tested again. But if found negative, we should be allowed to go home and we can be in self-quarantine.”