All the foreign returnees to Chandigarh would undergo the Covid-19 test and stay in 14-day quarantine in the city’s hotels.
While the Chandigarh Administration is yet to receive the final list of foreign returnees from the Union Ministry, quarantine arrangements have been put in place for them to combat the spread of Covid-19 (Coronavirus).
Earlier, it was estimated that around 5000 non-resident Indians including students belonging to the city would return from abroad.
The UT Administration has made arrangements for their accommodation in CITCO’s Hotel Mountview and Shivalikview. Apart from this, five hotels namely Lemon Tree, The Fern Residency, The Piccadily, Hometel Hotel and The Regent have been finalized for their stay.
The Administration had also approached five-star hotels namely JW Marriott, The Lalit, Hyatt Regency and Hotel Taj but no response was received from them regarding providing accommodation to the foreign returnees.
Till Monday evening, the city reported a total of 181 positive cases, with maximum of 115 infected patients from Bapu Dham colony, a containment zone in the city. The recovery rate of Coronavirus cases stood at poor 15 percent, much lower that the national average of 31.15 percent.
Given the current situation in the city, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore on Monday directed the UT Administration to ensure that all foreign returnees are tested for Coronavirus. He also directed that since the paying capacity of the returnees will vary, hence there should be a range of options for their stay.
DIG Shashank Anand has been appointed as nodal officer for organizing travel, accommodation and quarantining of Chandigarh residents returning from abroad by flights in various quarantining hotels designation by the Administration while UT Home-cum-Health Secretary Arun Kumar Gupta will be overall incharge.
Talking to The Pioneer, UT Home-cum-Health Secretary Arun Kumar Gupta said that the foreign returnees will follow the 14-day quarantine protocol and stay in various hotels in the city. All returnees will be tested three-four days after their arrival in Chandigarh, he said. Giving details of transportation and lodging facilities, Gupta said that the buses of Chandigarh Transport Undertaking will brought back the NRIs arriving at Delhi, Mohali and Amritsar Airports to Chandigarh.
Till now, two-three NRIs have returned and we have coordinated with the Delhi Government for their stay in hotels there. After the arrival of more people, we will send CTU buses to Delhi to bring them back to the city, he said.
About the number of foreign returnees, the Home Secretary said that the number is likely to be less than 5000. The Administration is yet to receive the list from the Union Ministry, he added.