Our Correspondent
Kohima, March 29 (EMN): The state government has made many sports institutes, among others, as Covid-19 centres and designated quarantine places to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak as per the advisories from the Health ministry.
Youth hostel under Youth Resources and Sports (YRS) at Netaji railway colony in Dimapur is one such place being utilised for compulsory quarantine, particularly for facilitating incoming students from outside of the state.
B Awala Walling, a 39-year-old state athletics coach, is managing the quarantine camp at the hostel along with two non-Naga youth to assist her since March 24.
Walling, who is also the warden of the youth hostel, told Eastern Mirror over the phone that two policemen were also deployed to keep an eye on the inmates at the hostel.
She also informed that doctors have been visiting the hostel to check the health condition of the inmates at the designated camp. "In case of emergency, we can always reach the control room and contact the doctors," she said.
The youth hostel, which has a capacity of 60 beds, was converted into 42 beds for the safety of the occupants. Walling maintained that every single bed has been kept at a distance of one metre from each other for prevention of spreading any symptoms like cough and fever to one another.
Currently there are 42 quarantined students comprising 24 boys and 18 girls. Walling stated that the quarantined students are being kept on separate beds with a distance of one metre or more in between them.
The warden informed that every morning tea is served to the inmates around 8 am, while lunch is served at 11 am. Another round of tea is served around 3 pm followed with dinner at 7 pm.
Discipline is also maintained as the caretakers make the students take their food and tea in group wise as a preventive measure.
Walling also told that safety kits like gloves, masks and hand sanitisers were being used in the hostel while the rooms of the inmates were sprayed and sanitised every day. "Uptill now we are running the hostel smoothly," she said.
The government had earlier directed people including students who have entered the state after March 6, irrespective of being screened at various checkpoints to self declare about their travel history and go for compulsory "home quarantine" for 14 days .