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The Imo state government had confirmed that Fancy Hotel in Umuguma, Owerri West council area of the state and about 41 occupants had been locked down in quarantine by authorities.
As such, no one leaves or enters the hotel without official clearance until the lockdown is lifted.
What they may not have told the public is the current state of the occupants of the hotel who have been holed up in the hotel since 1:00am last Saturday.
Investigations by our correspondent indicate that all may not be well with the occupants of the hotel most of who still do not have exact details of why they have been locked-in in the Hotel against their will.
One of the occupants in quarantine at the hotel who spoke to our correspondent on the condition of anonymity lamented that they are not being fed well.
“They say we are about 41 here but the only food that has been brought to us was a half bag of raw rice which we are supposed to cook with scanty ingredients, and with neither meat nor fish for protein. How do they expect us to eat rice in the morning, afternoon and night? That is unfair.”
The source continued: “From 1:00am last Saturday when the security men besieged our hotel, they told us that medics were coming to test us, but till this morning we haven’t seen any medic. Now some are saying that we shall be tested after we have stayed 14 days in here.
“My concern is that we need to be fed well at least. We do not need to starve to death here because we have been quarantined. Not when somebody dies of malnutrition here, they will say the person died of Coronavirus. Some of us told our family to bring us food, that’s why we are still holding up. If they want us isolated, they should feed us well please.”
Efforts made to reach the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Mrs. Damaris Osunkwo, who is also a member of the Imo State Taskforce on COVID-19 proved abortive as she did not take her calls on the two occasions our correspondent tried to reach her.
Fancy Hotel is still on lockdown and this is the second day in isolation for the 41 occupants locked-in in the hotel and the occupants are already panicked by poor feeding of those in quarantine.
Meanwhile, the Imo state Covid-19 taskforce has maintained a non-communicative stance without updating the public on the situation – possible and immediate dangers – faced by residents.
Unlike the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), there are no press briefings by the Imo COVID-19 taskforce; there is no website and there are no social media handles to convey updates on the status and situations in the state to the public.
The lack of communication and dissemination of timely information seems to be creating more tension in the state than they set out to manage.
