Their request for warm water for their child was also refused. On Next morning, the couple were given plain bread, few pieces of banana and raw packaged milk for breakfast. (Photo: Reuters/Representational image)

A young couple, who came in direct contact with West Bengal's second novel coronavirus victim has alleged shocking negligence on part of doctors and staff at the Jalpaiguri Suprerspeciality Hospital, where they were quarantined.

Both claim they reported their contact history to the authorities being responsible citizens, but never imagined the kind of harassment that awaited them.

They were picked up from their Siliguri residence on Sunday evening and were taken to the Jalpaiguri Superspeciality Hospital almost five hours later, after an initial screening at the North Bengal Medical College Hospital.

According to them,12 persons were put inside two ambulances with several other people being clubbed with them. But these people had no contact with the deceased Covid-19 victim who died recently.

The family consists of the couple, their three-year-old kid, their maid and her one-year-old child all of them were quarantined.

At the hospital isolation ward, located on the seventh floor of Jalpaiguri Superspeciality Hospital, they were given no drinking water. When asked for it, the medical staff allegedly pointed towards the tap.

"During this five hours journey, we were begging for a glass of water for my kid but was never provided. These people had no clue where exactly they should take us," the husband told India Today TV on phone from the quarantine facility.

"They took us to 2-3 places. Instead of taking us inside, from security guards to doctors, everyone was busy making our videos," he added.

The family says they have been kept in a ward with no fans or air conditioning facility. They were finally served dinner -- rice and egg -- around 2:30 am at night.

Their request for warm water for their child was also refused. On Monday morning, they were given plain bread, few pieces of banana and raw packaged milk.

"My wife and daughter have been coughing, had a sore throat, they could not eat the rice. How can the child drink raw milk straight from the packet?" he asked.

"We know we are in isolation, we are not demanding any luxury but the very basic minimum should be provided. We asked for hot water for my daughter, but they asked us to use the tap water instead. No medicine was given to my daughter despite coughing continuously," he added.

Narrating her plight on social media, his wife said, "We took the initiative to inform the authorities that we have symptoms but the government is not helping us."

"No test, no water no medicine nothing has done yet. We are drinking tap water. We were much safe at home rather here. Pleases help us out," she said in a Facebook post hours after landing at the government isolation facility.

Rubbishing the allegations, chief medical health officer (CMO) of Jalpaiguri Dr Ramendranath Pramanick has said the family must bear with the authorities in such a time of emergency.

"It's all a lie. We have provided them everything hot water, milk, etc. When someone visits a new place one must bear with the host so that everything can be put in place. It is not their home, it's a foreign place and they will have to accept it. I have addressed all their grievances and even placed and assistant superintendant at the ward," Pramanick told India Today.

Read | Is coronavirus situation in India less severe than other countries?

Also read | Challenge to fighting coronavirus in India: 36% wash hands with soap before a meal

Covid-19 read | 6 die of coronavirus after thousands attend event at Nizamuddin, states brace for fallout: 10 points

Watch | Surge in confirmed cases as India gears up to tackle Covid-19