SHILLONG: Be it surveillance or entertainment of inmates, technology is playing a crucial role at the COVID care centre at Umsawli that currently has 14 inmates.
During a visit to the area on Saturday, supervisor of administration Ovidio L Kurbah told The Shillong Times that the centre has been set up in the newly-constructed hostel building of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) that has “the best facilities”.
“Other than television sets, the 200-odd rooms have everything. We are providing 24×7 WiFi too so that the inmates do not get bored during their 14-day quarantine,” said Kurbah.
The ‘quarantine’ building is under surveillance with CCTV cameras fitted along the balcony and corridor. The staircases are also locked to ensure that the inmates do not go out of the building. “We are taking all precautions to ensure that the inmates are safe and that they complete their quarantine period following all the regulations,” said Kurbah.
The centre also has a laboratory for COVID testing. Inmates are brought in after screening and sanitisation at Polo. None of the inmates at the centre has tested positive for COVID-19. After 14 days at the centre, a person has to go for 14-day home quarantine.
The supervisor informed that 110 more people are supposed to come in the next few days. There are four doctors and around 10 nurses tending to the inmates.
The health workers work for 14 days before quarantining themselves.
Each of the 210 rooms (measuring 10×20 sq ft) at the centre has a table at the door where packed meal is kept thrice every day. Announcements are made on speakers. There is provision for tea and hot water, along with tidbits, in the rooms. Each of the four blocks has two intercom facilities for the inmates.
The state’s biggest quarantine centre on the IIM premises at Umsawli was started after the COVID centre at the institute’s Nongthymmai campus was closed.