Quarantine Shame in Agra, Wuhan Warning From Mayor

The Uttar Pradesh government’s much-touted ‘Agra model of containment’ lay in tatters, after a video clip showed COVID-19 patients at a quarantine centre in the city scrambling and squatting for water bottles and food packets from behind a locked gate.

In the clip doing rounds on social media, the inmates were seen desperately trying to grab bottles of water and packets of biscuits thrown at them by a person wearing personal protective equipment (PPE).

The video was purportedly shot at the Hindustan College by a woman who was brought to the centre for a check-up but she says it wasn't done. The college, registered under the Sharda Group of Institutions, was converted into a quarantine facility by the Agra administration.

Meanwhile, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi voiced concern over the increasing cases in Agra and cited a letter to the UP CM written by the Mayor on April 21.

आगरा शहर में हालात खराब हैं और रोज नए मरीज निकल रहे हैं। आगरा के मेयर का कहना है कि अगर सही प्रबंध नहीं हुआ तो मामला हाथ से निकल जाएगा।

कल भी मैंने इसी चीज को उठाया था। पारदर्शिता बहुत जरूरी है। टेस्टिंग पर ध्यान देना जरूरी है। कोरोना को रोकना है तो फोकस सही जानकारी.. 1/2 pic.twitter.com/g60i7F8m2v

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) April 26, 2020

Agra Mayor Naveen Jain said in the letter to Yogi Adityanath that the city administration has proved useless and failed in its efforts to check the rapid rise in infections. He also warned the ‘Taj city’ could become India’s ‘Wuhan’ if correct measures were not initiated. 

The district authorities were previously praised for the “Agra Model” of COVID-19 containment by both the Centre and the state government.

Agra, a popular tourist destination, has cases nearing the 400-mark, the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the state.