Chp 812. Quarantine in Mizoram

Today is Day 44 of a Lockdown in India, and Day 47 of a Lockdown in Mizoram.

In fact, it doesn't even feel like a lockdown anymore here in Mizoram. I mean, movement of the general public is still restricted of course, but compared to the first 30 days of lockdown, as you can see from my past blog updates, things are relatively so much better now.

Public transports are starting to function again, most offices are operational, shops are open, even restaurants have started delivering food again. But most important of all, that immense fear and tension we all felt at the beginning of this bizarre and twisted nightmare are no longer there.

Much credit goes to the people and all those involved in preventing the spread of this CoVid-19 pandemic.

One main reason why most of us are so relaxed now is because there had been no new cases in Mizoram since Day 1. Even our lone positive patient slowly recovered and was moved from the ICU to the Isolation ward and finally to the High Risk ward where he is currently staying as a negative patient!

Yup, Mizoram is finally a CoVid-19 free state.

For now, that is.

The danger is far from over, we need to keep taking the same precautions as before because this invisible monster can be lurking at any corner, ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey at any time. Yes we may have won the first round, but this is definitely not the end of the fight yet.

Take any boxing movies for example, all those Rocky series, or even martial arts movies like Karate Kid or Bloodsport. In the final fight scene of the movie, the villain always wins during the first round. And then eventually towards the end, the hero fights back and beats the villain in a dramatic fashion. Don't be that villain. :)

And now, with the state borders open again and Mizos who had been stuck across India are now allowed to enter Mizoram, we have to be extra careful. Even the official Mizoram mCOVID-19 app shows the number of "Govt. Quarantine" amount jump sharply from 200+ in the last few days to 2111 as of today!

By the way, whoever designed this app, well-done! As somebody who had spent many years developing mobile games and apps, I REALLY love the UI/UX of this app, as it is super simple, minimalistic and very "tunlai" in terms of design aesthetics and usability. In case you haven't installed this app on your Android device yet, you can do so by clicking this link.

So with the number of people returning to Mizoram increasing more than 10 times in just a few days, all Government Quarantine facilities across Mizoram are functioning at full capacity. It had been a common sight to see buses like this in Mizoram too the past few days.

The other day, I was busy blogging when I saw one of the buses in our CCTV as well.

It had just dropped a batch of travelers at Tourist Lodge Chaltlang, which is one of the Quarantine Centres in Aizawl.

In Kolasib district, there are currently 14 Government Quarantine facilities, and these include Tourist Lodge Kolasib, SIRD Hostel, DIET Kolasib, Regional Sports Training Centre, Tourist Lodge Vairengte, Education IB Vairengte, Kawnpui HSS, Polytechnic Thingdawl  and PWD IB Bairabi to name a few.

All images below courtesy my cousin Mapari Khupchawng @ Kolasib.

At Siaha Quarantine Centre, my dear friend Emmy Ci Lawbei too had a pleasant experience staying there, and you can read about her video update at The Quint website.

All images below courtesy Emmy.

Emmy shacked up with another girl she met for the first time. The Quarantine Centre was at the District Panchayat Resource Centre building, Meisavaih, Siaha,

Food was served to them inside their respective rooms.

There were doctors on-call the whole time, ready to check them for any medical ailment or if they require a drip etc.

The government even provided them with free WiFi to keep them company during the day, as they were not allowed to meet other quarantined members. But they could get stuff delivered to them from their families outside the gate.

Food was served twice a day, and there were times that they got non-veg as well, though not in great quantity, but still very impressive for a state-run facility.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience for Emmy, and she thanked the state government for everything.

Meanwhile at Beraw, the Tourist Complex is used as a Quarantine facility.

All images below courtesy Muantea Chinzah.

With the sudden rush in new incoming travelers recently, people are now accommodated at the halls since all the rooms are full. Compared to Emmy's experience above, things won't be that comfortable, but so far, everybody seems to be hanging on, and I guess the thought of seeing your loved ones soon keep all these people sane.

The food served at Beraw is also simple, but definitely edible and filling.

Even other people have commented on the quality of the food, like this one guy spoke about how his friend came home from Manipur and was really impressed with the food considering it is a state-run facility.

As he mentioned above in Mizo, his friend's emotions were really touched because all the workers struggled so hard to give them warm and healthy food while running the risk of catching the virus from any of them. He was moved to tears by their altruism.

This other lady below too commented that she was astonished to find out that the cost of a meal was quite cheap, considering how much effort had been taken by everybody else to cater to such a large group of people.

We have a saying in Mizo: "An sawi khi chu ka leh dan a diklo na in ti hian hnamdang ho in lo chhiar ve rawh se" which means sacrifice of oneself for our fellow Mizos.

The place she is talking about is the Tourist Lodge Chaltlang Quarantine Centre, which is like 10 minutes walking distance from my house.

You must have all seen videos of other Quarantine Centres across India, some of them unfortunately in poor conditions. There were even some videos of people escaping from their Centres! Thank God we haven't seen anything like that in Mizoram so far. The general mindset of the Mizo people is unselfish and caring, and that makes me proud of my community.

Yes sure, the food served may not be ideally that great, especially for those who are used to eating rich and opulent cuisines outside Mizoram, but it is more than enough to fill a starving stomach, not to mention that it is rich in nutrients as well.

But I am so grateful that in our case, when my niece came home to Mizoram, the lockdown hadn't started yet, and so she self-quarantined in my room, as I mentioned in this post The Importance of Quarantine.

I never got to update my blog about her, so here's what happened in our case.

On 31st March 2020, my niece finally completed serving her self-quarantine period. After remaining inside her room for 14 straight days where all meals were served to her inside the room, she could finally step out of the room!

My sister even recorded a video of her stepping out from the room for the first time, lolz.

She could finally start cooking and washing the dishes, which was a big relief for me as well :D

It felt so good to have her dine on the table along with the rest of our family.

Later that day, a doctor came to check up on her, as it was a formality required to sign off the self-quarantine. Every person serving a self-quarantine in our locality had been registered at our Local Council office and the LLTF sent a designated doctor to check up on such people when their self-quarantine period was over.

I was outside standing in a line to collect free vegetables from our LLTF when that doctor visit happened, so I don't have any photos of that visit.

After a few days, we were summoned by the LLTF to our Local Council office to collect the self-quarantine completion certificate for my niece.

This is the same room where Duhawma, our Chaltlang tlângaupa, whom I mentioned in my previous post "Information System in Mizoram" sits.

Once the paperwork was cleared, we went to our Health Sub-Centre which is just 2 mins walk from the LC office to get the final sign-off.

The doctor on-duty gladly signed the certificate and gave it to us.

Thaadaa, my niece is now a certified self-quarantine completer! :D

I just wanted to take you through the whole process to show how organized this whole structure is. There is no question of anybody trying to cheat the system or bunking quarantine because, (a) nobody wants to do that, and secondly (b) we are a small community where everybody knows everybody, especially neighbours, so it would be pointless to try and cheat.

Likewise, I am sure a similar process is being followed at all the Government Quarantine Centres as well, and it really feels reassuring for the rest of the population to know that. Here's to all the government and voluntary organizations helping in managing this process.

Cheers for now.