Long night at Delhi’s IGI airport, confusion lasts till Tuesday

On Monday, several passengers said the Delhi government’s facilities were not suitable. Some of those taken to Dwarka and Narela claimed the facilities were unhygienic. A “large number” of people were recommended home quarantine, as per a health ministry official, who estimated that only about 15-20% of the over 400 people would now be at the facilities.

A 23-year-old student from Paris, who was taken for quarantine to Gurgaon’s SGT Medical College, said Tuesday that she was the only one from about a 100 people who declared a symptom and decided to stay back.

Another student from Paris who was taken to a facility in Saket said, “There were about 30 of us. At 3 am, authorities took our temperatures at a helpdesk. They then told us that if we wanted them to take our temperatures for the next 14 days, we could stay back, or quarantine ourselves at home.” The student, who had a connecting flight to Bengaluru, decided to return with others. Some other passengers also had connecting flights to various Indian cities.

The health ministry is dividing travellers from the seven countries mentioned in its directive into A, B and C categories — high, moderate and low risk.

After an anxiety-ridden flight from Paris to Delhi, a 24-year-old woman reached the airport at 9 am Monday, only to be held up there for 10 hours before being taken to the Narela facility for a night. She told The Indian Express, “There was no screening at the Paris airport; there was no screening at IGIA either…”

She said at the airport, passports were taken away and no food or information was provided. “We found a vending machine between the immigration and the space where you deboard. We were given breakfast in the Air India flight early Monday. After that, I got a meal at 10.30 pm at the Narela facility.”

On the Narela facility, she said they were DDA flats and she was put in a one-BHK flat that she shared with another passenger. “We were taken to a clinic Monday night; they asked us our travel history and if we have any symptoms. No temperature was taken. On Tuesday, we returned to the clinic, where my temperature was taken; I was told it was normal.”

“I was made to sign a form that said I will home quarantine myself. I left for the airport again. I am going to Bhopal, where my parents live,” she said.

The Delhi government has also set aside 182 rooms at three premier hotels in Aerocity for a fixed price of Rs 3,100 (plus taxes) per day, including meals. About 107 people from the Dwarka facility were brought to these hotels after they protested, with a passenger claiming it was unhygienic. Some passengers also said things got heated as they were brought to the hotels.

New Delhi District Magistrate Tanvi Garg said, “We carried out their screening. They were a little agitated, had not eaten, so we offered them something to eat. Most passed as category C and were recommended home quarantine. Seven who were in category B were quarantined at the hotel.”