In the quarantine and isolation facilities of Rautahat and Sarlahi districts, two of the most affected districts by Covid-19 in the country, individuals complain of poor sanitation, ill-furnished rooms, and mosquitos. They say health workers hardly visit those centres and the infected people in the isolation wards are not getting any medical attention.

As of Sunday, Rautahat has reported 1,343 Covid-19 cases, the highest in the country, and Sarlahi has 649 cases. The cases are rising by dozens a day in both the districts.

One infected individual at an isolation centre in Sarlahi said that doctors rarely come to check up on him.

“We may win the battle against coronavirus by god’s grace, but we will always remember the poor facilities and outright neglect we’ve had to undergo. As summer is here, there are mosquitos but nothing to protect us from them,” he said.

On Thursday, a video from a quarantine centre operated by Chandrapur Municipality leaked on social media. The video showed a woman complaining of poor security and management of the facility. But local unit officials claimed that the video was a “propaganda” targeted against them.

Chandrapur Mayor Ram Chandra Chaudhary claimed that quarantine centres maintained by his local unit are the “best in the district” and the video does not reflect the true state of the facilities. “We cannot provide five-star services to the quarantined,” he said. “But we are providing all the basic amenities. We will look into the matter and find out if there are any problems. If we find any, we will ask for clarification from quarantine chiefs.”

Rautahat has over a 100 quarantine facilities spread across its 18 local units with over 800 individuals placed in them. There are 12 isolation centres in the district with more than 700 people.

In another quarantine facility of Chandrapur-6, which has 43 people, quarantined individuals have complained of insufficient food and, like elsewhere, poor sanitation.

“We are treated like animals here,” said a woman who had recently returned from Kuwait. “The room doesn’t have a lock, so how will our security be ensured? There are mosquitos everywhere but we are not even provided a net.”

Om Prakash Thakur contributed reporting from Sarlahi.