Quarantine nightmare - Persons complain of bad food, cold treatment

Testing positive for the novel coronavirus was already stressful for Jane*, but having to endure what she described as 'inhumane' treatment at her quarantine facility has only intensified the traumatic experience.

"Nobody cares about us," she told THE STAR. "If I ask for some water, it is days before anybody bring the water. And the food, it's inedible because it is not being prepared properly. When they carry the breakfast, there is no tea. There is no hot water to make tea so if gas take you up, you're on your own and nobody cares. They carry lunch and dinner whenever they feel like and when the food comes, it cannot be eaten."

She expressed that there is a lack of compassion from the nurses at the facility.

"When persons ask for something here, they behave like we went to shop and ordered a pound of corona and call this on ourselves. They don't want to touch us or anything," she said. "It is like I'm in a prison being punished for something I didn't do."

Another person in quarantine said the nurses assigned to them are "very rude and ill-mannered".

"They show no care to us regardless of our compromise and co-operation. We are being served food that is undercooked, ... cold, and not a part of our diet. We are constantly 'traced' (cursed) like stray dogs ... back into rooms after being barked at for a distasteful meal," the person said, appealing with the Government to "free us from this bondage that we don't deserve".

Follow-up test

Jane, 21, who tested positive for COVID-19 on April 12, was employed at the Alorica call centre in Portmore and has been in isolation since then. She has not been given a follow-up test.

"I called the Ministry of Health asking when will I get to do a second testing. They say they don't know anything and just give me a phone number to call and then that's it; sometimes I don't get to anybody," she said, noting that when she does, the nurses only reply 'I don't know'.

Meanwhile Dunstan Henry, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Health and Wellness, said officials are aware of the concerns and action is being taken to address them.

"At this point in time, we have engaged the management of the different venues and we are doing consultation to determine the nature of the complaints and to see how we can best improve the quality of the service that is being offered at the facility," he said.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is also urging persons to be patient with the quarantine process.

"We need to accept that this is a highly contagious virus and the intention is to minimise the spread. Persons have to serve the period of quarantining that is required to ensure that they are virus-free," said Tufton. "It is very confining and restrictive and has the potential to affect the state of mind of individuals. It is not going to be a perfect situation and so we ask persons to be patient. It is for their own good and the good of their families and communities."

But he also asked that persons be treated with respect.

"Persons must be treated humanely and we take all concerns seriously and to the extent that we have those concerns expressed, we will investigate and correct to the extent that they need correcting," he added.

* Name changed