Army establishes coronavirus quarantine facility for students returning from China

The quarantine facility consists of accommodation barracks for the students, administrative areas and medical facility area.

Indian Army has created a Coronavirus quarantine facility near Manesar for monitoring around 300 students coming from Wuhan in China.

“Responding to an emergency requirement to create and manage a facility for quarantine of approximately 300 Indian students arriving from Wuhan, China the Indian Army has acted swiftly and created a facility near Manesar where the students can be monitored for a duration of two weeks by a qualified team of doctors and staff members, to watch for any signs of infection,” Army sources said on Friday.

The procedure of screening and quarantine will comprise two steps, the first one being screening at airport followed by quarantine at Manesar and if any individual is suspected to be infected, he/she will be shifted to the isolation ward at Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment (BHDC), an Army source said.

On arrival at the airport, the students will be screened at the airport by a joint team of Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and Airport Health Authority (APHO). During the screening they will be classified into three groups, suspect case, close contact and non contact case.

In suspect cases, individuals with any signs of fever and/or cough and/or respiratory distress will be directly transferred to BHDC, the source stated. In close contact, any individual without symptoms but having visited a seafood/animal market or a health facility or having come into contact with a Chinese person with symptoms in the last 14 days will be escorted in an earmarked vehicle directly to the quarantine facility. In non-contact case, any individual without any symptoms or fit either of two earlier criteria will also be clubbed along with the close contact category and sent to the quarantine facility.

The quarantine facility consists of accommodation barracks for the students, administrative areas and medical facility area. To prevent mass outbreak, the facility has been divided into sectors, each with a maximum capacity of 50 students. Each barrack has been further subdivided into barracks. “The population of sectors will not be allowed to intermingle with each other,” sources said.

Daily medical examination of all students will be done at the medical facility area and all the staff, health care workers and housekeeping staff must wear their personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times. “After 14 days, persons with no symptoms will be allowed to go home with their detailed documentation sent to the District/ State surveillance units for further surveillance,” the source stated adding those found infected will be shifted to BHDC's isolation ward for further medical exams and recovery.

“Samples for viral confirmation will be sent to National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi and patients will be discharged only after clinical recovery and two successive negative samples tested for n-COV,” sources explained.

The facility will be administered by a nominated Officer In Charge (OIC) who will have under his command a Community Medicine Specialist, two Nursing Officers, a Lady Medical Officer and one Nursing Assistant. “No civilian or serving personnel detailed to work inside the facility will be allowed to go outside unless compelled by extreme emergency situation,” sources added.