Operational Considerations to Manage Quarantine Facility: Lessons Learnt in Setting-up the First Quarantine Centre in India for Evacuees from Wuhan (The epicentre of COVID-19 Outbreak), China

Abstract

Background: On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a “public health emergency of international concern.†In order to contain the outbreak, China used quarantine measures. India was among the first few to evacuate its citizens.

Methods: It is a retrospective cohort study of Indian evacuees who returned from Wuhan, China. Standard operative procedures were developed for daily screening, sample collection, medical management, transport and referral, biomedical waste management, food safety, etc. Lessons learned were incorporated in subsequent trainings to improve effectiveness.

Results: India evacuated 647 nationals including seven Maldivian citizens from Wuhan, China in many batches (with first two batches having 104 and 302 evacuees respectively) during the consecutive days of February 1st and 2nd, 2020. These 2 batches of evacuees including seven Maldivian citizens were stationed at Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) Chhawla Camp, Delhi; the first quarantine facility in India for novel Coronavirus. Rest of the spassenger were sheltered at a military quarantine facility at Manesar.

Conclusion: Developing standard procedures/checklist for routine activities and effective trainings were key to successful quarantining the evacuees in the initial phase of outbreak of COVID-19.

How to cite this article:
Shewale A, Vashistha H, Sorokhaibam R, Dhuria M, Jain SK, Joshi AP, Singh S. Operational Considerations to Manage Quarantine Facility: Lessons Learnt in Setting-up the First Quarantine Centre in India for Evacuees from Wuhan (The epicentre of COVID-19 Outbreak), China. J Commun Dis. 2021;53(3):1-10.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24321/0019.5138.202133