Declined test in Delhi, Himachalis flock to villages

vinder Sood

Palampur, June 13

Not able to find proper medical care in Delhi hospitals, several Himachali families are coming to their native villages in Palampur, Baijnath, Jaisinghpur, Nagrota Bagwan and Joginder Nagar subdivisions every day. As per the protocol, the district administrations are keeping them in institutional quarantine centres at different places. Many of them have tested positive for coronavirus in the past fortnight and have been sent to isolation centres.

A family that reached Baijnath told The Tribune that as the Covid situation in Delhi was worsening, Himachalis were returning to their native places for Covid testing and treatment, in required.

One of the family members said that they visited many hospitals for the Covid test but no one entertained them. They came to their home district Kangra and later two family members tested positive for Covid at Palampur.

Likewise, another family arrived in Palampur in the first week of June. The family members had moved from pillar to post for the Covid test in Delhi, but in vain. They decided to come to their native village, near Baijnath. They were kept at an institutional quarantine centre where a 52-year-old male member tested positive and was sent to the Covid Care Centre at Baijnath.

A 52-year-old woman, who had arrived in Palampur from Delhi in the first week of June, also tested positive for Covid. She, too, had visited many hospitals in Delhi for the test, but was turned away. The influx of such persons increased in the last week of May.

Dharmesh Ramotra, SDM, Palampur, said that there would be equal treatment of those coming from places such as Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat, as “they are our own people”. They had left the state in the search of jobs. “They have suffered a lot, as they stayed outside the state during 70 days of the lockdown without money and food. We are capable of taking care of our people and we will take care of them,” he said.