Coronavirus Outbreak: Quarantine set up in Manesar to monitor Indians evacuated from Wuhan

As Indian nationals have now started arriving from the Coronavirus-infected Wuhan city in China, the Indian Army acted swiftly and built a facility near Haryana's 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. The Army responded to this emergency requirement to create and manage a facility for quarantine of approximately 300 Indian students.

A special Air India flight departed on Friday from New Delhi to Wuhan to rescue the citizens trapped in the region. This is the first special flight, double-decker jumbo 747 with 15 cabin crew and 5 cockpit crew which departed at 12.30 pm from the T3 Terminal of the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport for the evacuation of Indians. This flight is expected to return to the national capital at 2 am on February 1.

The procedure of screening and quarantine will comprise two steps, the first one being screening at the 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). Screening at the airport will be done by a joint team of Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) and Airport Health Authority (APHO).

#CORONAVIRUS#IndianArmy responding to the emergency has created a facility near #Manesar for quarantine of approximately 300 #Indian students arriving from #Wuhan #China, students will be monitored by a qualified team of doctors, to watch for any signs of infection.#NationFirst pic.twitter.com/85G8HLv972

— ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) January 31, 2020

During the screening they will be classified into three groups, which are:

• Suspect Case: Individuals with any signs of fever and/or cough and/or respiratory distress will be directly transferred to BHDC.
   
• 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.
   
• Non-Contact Case: Any individual without any symptom(s) or contact or who does not fit into either (a) or (b) will also be clubbed along with the close contact category and sent to the quarantine facility.

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

A 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. PPE consists of a mask, eye shield, shoe cover, gown, and gloves. The rest of the visitors and all students will wear a three-layered mask 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. 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 NCDC, Delhi and patients will be discharged only after clinical recovery and two successive negative samples tested for n-COV. Apart from playing games, watching TV and having meals together within a barrack, no one will be allowed to interact with the members of another barrack and definitely not another sector.

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 an extreme emergency situation.