Pakistan: Spike in COVID-19 cases raises questions about quarantine procedures at Taftan camps

At least 134 people released from quarantine camps in Pakistan's Taftan border crossing with Iran have tested positive for novel coronavirus, raising questions about screening procedures and living conditions at these camps which presently house hundreds of people.

Pakistan recorded its biggest single-day hike in coronavirus infections on Monday, which took the country's tally to 184. As many as 134 of the said total cases are among those held in quarantine at Taftan upon their return from coronavirus-hit Iran.

"(The spike in cases) was mainly because of the people who came from Taftan. They had been quarantined there, and then we moved them to our own facility where we tested them," Al Jazeera quoted Meeran Yousuf, spokesperson for Sindh province's Health Minister, as saying.

People currently in the Taftan camp have complained of squalid living conditions and the unavailability of adequate screening and treatment procedures at the facilities. Amir Ali, 26, a travel agent who was brought to Taftan camp on March 3, has complained that a single tent is being shared by up to five people due to the shortage of space.

"There are not enough bathrooms or enough water. The system for screening is not as they claim. They are not giving us all these medicines," Ali said.

Others have lamented the lack of medical facilities at the camp. "There are no doctors here," said Khanum Jan, who had been in the camp for nine days. "There are no beds or blankets."

The claims have been denied by the Balochistan government, which said it was doing its best with limited resources.

"It's a desert area. It's far away. We are doing our level best," Balochistan government spokesperson Liaquat Shahwani said.

Shahwani said that staff was constantly monitoring those in quarantine for symptoms.

"The World Health Organisation protocol calls for a 14-day mandatory quarantine. People can still develop symptoms after 14 days, or even 28 days. It differs from case to case."Pakistan has so far reported 237 cases of the novel coronavirus, including 172 in Sindh alone.

Globally, the virus has infected more than 184,000 people and killed more than 7500, as per the data available on the World Health Organisation website.