Some of the creature comforts of home may often available for those being treated in hospitals for well-known diseases. But for those diagnosed with the novel coronavirus in the city, conditions under government quarantine are proving less than homely.

Spartan rooms with no reading materials, television sets or radios confront the four positive cases plus two suspected cases being isolated in the old block of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Chest Diseases (RGICD).

Also see: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases

The block, which is known as the Infective Cases Intensive Care Unit (ICICU), is a series of disconnected, single-story buildings set about 200 metres southwest of the main RGICD building.

Initially, patients suffering from tuberculosis (TB) were being treated here. Those TB patients have now been moved to a more modern building across the way, to make way for incoming Covid-19 patients, medical staff said.

Doctors described the conditions at the ICICU as adequate. “We are doing our best to keep the patients comfortable,” said a medical doctor speaking to DH at the site where RGICD is also carrying out coronavirus screening.

However, when asked if the hospital had plans to give the patients access to reading materials and electronic media, medical staff demurred. “We are a government hospital. Not all recreational facilities can be made available. Patients can pass the time by talking to each other; they are all being kept in a closed room,” a doctor said.

With no end in sight for those quarantined, their mental state was described as fragile. “They are depressed, but there is nothing that can be done. We are also limiting visits by relatives to prevent the spread of the virus,” the doctor added.

At the moment, the only way out of the facility is through a negative report in the sputum and blood samples which are collected every three days, explained Dr Deepak U G, nodal officer at RGICD.

Another doctor added that several people with negative results had already been discharged.

Hospital diet

Meantime, life for the quarantined continued, sustained by a diet of hospital food, although medical staff said that special food is also supplied upon request. However, several members of the hospital food delivery staff contradicted this.

“We only supply patients with the standard hospital food: white rice, curry and eggs. Special food? Never heard of it,” said a hospital staffer delivering food to the unit.