New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) With Air India bringing back 129 Indians from Dhaka on Saturday, the total number of foreign returnees in the national capital has reached 363 in two days.
According to the guidelines issued by the government, it is compulsory for every foreign returnee to be under institutional quarantine for 14 days, which in Delhi is being facilitated by several hotels spread across the city.
Keeping in mind the worst case scenario, these hotels are making sure to take extra precautions to avoid another Covid-19 outbreak.
Two posh hotels in Delhi are hosting a majority of the evacuees, and both said that the hospitality would be coupled with precautions to make sure that the quarantined individuals do not face any difficulty, while the staff and others present at the hotels also stay safe.
Strict ‘no contact’ policy has been employed at the hotels to ensure that there is no chance of Covid-19 transmission in case any of the guests tests positive for the dreaded virus.
“We do not want another outbreak of the disease at this stage. While every guest has gone through the thermal screening process, we have to stay prepared for the worst case scenario,” an official in one of the hotels in Aerocity told IANS, requesting anonymity.
The official added that to make sure that there is minimum contact, the management of the hotel has decided to serve food in disposable plates and containers to the quarantined guests.
“A person equipped with PPE kit will leave food outside their rooms after knocking on the doors. The quarantined person can dispose of the plates as bio-medical waste after finishing the meal,” the official said.
An official in another hotel in Lutyen’s Delhi said that the hotel staff will just remove the garbage bags from the rooms once in a day as part of its cleaning drive.
“We will not risk the safety of our employees and others present in the hotel while serving our quarantined guests,” the official said.
He added that during the 14-day stay of these quarantined guests, the security personnel at the hotel will ensure that their movements are restricted to the confined areas. “The management will also monitor their movement through CCTV cameras,” he added.
On Thursday, India began one of the world’s biggest air evacuation operations when two Air India Express flights brought back stranded Indians from Abu Dhabi and Dubai to Kochi and Kozhikode, respectively.
As per plans, Air India and Air India Express would operate 64 flights to bring back 14,800 stranded Indians from 12 countries.
–IANS
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