Our quarantine centres

Tarpaulin camps set up in an open space with cotton mattresses laid out on unpaved mud floor: this is what makes up a coronavirus quarantine centre established at the border with Iran or on the outskirts of Quetta in Mianghundi. With no beds to lie on, virtually no doctors to attend to, and no proper testing facilities, these places are anything but quarantine zones. As if offenders, coronavirus suspects are literally detained inside the camps at these so-called isolation centres that leave much more to be desired. They are overcrowded and terribly lack basic bathroom and toilet facilities. Meals are not served properly either. For those having returned from abroad, passing a 14-day isolation period at these centres is akin to undergoing rigorous imprisonment.

Treatment facilities are a critical miss at these quarantine centres. When, according to reports, a boy tested positive for coronavirus at the Taftan quarantine centre on Tuesday, he was taken all the way to Quetta, some 600 kilometres away, at the risk of exposing whatever and whoever coming across in between. There are also reports of most doctors refusing to report for duty to the two quarantine centres, with the result that only a doctor or two are available at a time, along with a few paramedics, to take care of those under observation. Isolation centres set up in many other parts of the country, like in the interior of Sindh province, are nothing much to write home about either.

That speaks of our casual approach to dealing with a serious challenge — a challenge that can only be prevented, or contained, with precautions as an anti-virus is still a long way to come about. Without any further delay, the authorities concerned need to pay attention to the sorry state of our quarantine centres — besides, of course, putting up all other necessary preventive measures in place. All isolation centres need to be equipped with all necessary facilities. There is also the need to set up more isolation centres while taking a prior action. We are certainly not caught off-guard. We knew it was coming.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 12^th, 2020.

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