Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SP)

Udupi, Jun 6: Some members of Mumbai Tuluvar WhatsApp group have speculated, taking into account the fact that about 500 out of over 8,000 people from Maharashtra who were subjected to institutional quarantine here have proved positive for coronavirus infection, that quarantine centres may be responsible for this phenomenon.

They have pointed out that test reports take more than two weeks in some cases after samples are collected. This could increase the chances of infection in the quarantine centres, they feel. The decision to send people who complete their mandatory seven or 14 days quarantine to their homes even when their reports are awaited, has also drawn criticism.

It is said that not cleaning the toilets frequently, failure to maintain personal hygiene and not keeping vigil to ensure that social distance is maintained in the institutional quarantine could have contributed to the increased cases of the pandemic. This opinion was echoed by Karunakara, who returned home after seven-day quarantine.

There is general appreciation for the way in which institutional quarantine centres are being managed in Karkala taluk under the leadership of MLA, V Sunil Kumar. In other institutional quarantine centres of the district, the complaints have been very less.

A health department official mentioned that it is a challenging task to run government's institutional quarantine centres for two weeks, and providing food, medical care, other staff, medical equipments and other facilities. He said that because of these problems, people coming from Maharashtra are being sent to home quarantine after a week of institutional quarantine. The others are directly sent to home quarantine because of this problem, he stated.