Lack of quarantine facilities across state concerns officials

Dehradun: With Uttarakhand government accelerating efforts to bring back stranded locals under its “Ghar Chalo Abhiyan”, health department and district administration are grappling to arrange adequate quarantine facilities in the state. Health department officials say that the lack of quarantine facilities in the state is a matter of concern as Uttarakhand government is planning to bring back 1.5 lakh stranded locals to the state in the next few days.Notably, five people among those migrant workers who were brought back to the state tested positive for coronavirus in the last 48 hours.
Most of the people who have registered on the state government website are stuck in states like Maharashtra, Delhi, and Gujarat — where Covid-19 pandemic is more severe. “As per protocol, everyone coming from red zone to green/orange zone must be institutionally quarantined,” said a health department official. According to health department data, the state has 1,031 beds for confirmed Covid-19 cases and 8,021 beds for suspected cases of the disease. The state currently has 120 ventilators and 236 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds.
Talking about institutional quarantine facility available, Abhishek Tripathi, nodal officer of Covid-19 war room, told TOI that 18,022 beds are available in the state of which 2,514 are already occupied. “The maximum number of beds — 3,836 — at institutional quarantine facilities are available in Haridwar, followed by 3,813 beds in Udham Singh Nagar, 1,861 beds in Pauri, 1,838 beds in Nainital, and 1,563 beds in Dehradun. Institutional quarantine facilities in hill districts have a capacity of 150-800 beds,” said Tripathi, while adding that it will be difficult to quarantine all cases if the numbers shoot up.
“We will conduct screening at various levels and then people with no symptoms and safer travelling history can be quarantined at their homes. District administrations are also working on increasing the quarantine facilities,” he said.
Meanwhile, a group of men, who had recently returned to the state, were allegedly put under quarantine in a cow shed in Pauri’s Amdanda Palla village under Rikhnikhal block. The district administration took cognisance of the matter and the men were shifted elsewhere.
Pauri’s sub-divisional magistrate Aparna Daundiyal told TOI, “They themselves decided to remain under quarantine in the shed. We are trying to convince locals and make them aware of the disease and its prevention methods. We have contacted the village heads and told them to put beds inside the empty houses, schools, and community halls of the area. If this doesn’t serve the purpose, we will put those who return to the state in quarantine at their homes.”