Quarantine centres in Bokaro see protests

BOKARO: Many government-run quarantine centres across the district have started witnessing protests by the inmates who are demanding release after completion of the mandatory 14-day isolation period. Over a 100 inmates across different centres are overstaying due to delay in getting the virus test reports of their swab samples. On Thursday, migrant workers at ANM training centre, Camp-2 staged protests.Inmates at the Chandankyari quarantine centre also staged a protest on Wednesday. Similar agitations were held at a quarantine centre in Nawadih block a few days back.
A migrant protester at the ANM training centre said, “Today is my 16th day here. I was promised that I would be discharged after my test report arrives. But no one knows when exactly it will arrive. Chances are I will contract the virus if I overstay here any longer.”
Civil surgeon Dr A K Pathak said, “PMCH in Dhanbad is overburdened with samples from eight districts. Test reports in Bokaro are getting delayed by 10 days. However, we have learnt that testing of Covid-19 samples has been expedited from Thursday in the hospital.” He added, “As per the norms, we cannot release the migrants even if they have completed 14 days of quarantine without their test results.”
He further said that about 180 migrants are overstaying in the quarantine centres at the moment. “The numbers are growing daily,” he added.