No longer a Covid hotspot, Ludhiana old age home limps back to normalcy

Spread across 70,000 square yards on NH-1 (GT Road) in Doraha of Ludhiana, this paid old age home facility, which claims providing ‘A Home Away From Home’ to senior citizens above 60 years of age, charges at least Rs 16,000 a month per person from the families of the oldies who leave them here to stay.

At least 31 persons, including old inmates and 10 staffers in the facility, had tested positive for coronavirus at Heavenly Palace. (Express Photo by Gurmeet Singh)

However, there was widespread panic among families after the place became a hotspot following the outbreak.

As per the Punjab government’s health bulletin issued on September 6 when Heavenly Palace was still among the containment zones, at least 582 persons were living inside. The facility owners also came under heavy criticism for allegedly concealing information regarding Covid outbreak inside the home.

Colonel (retired) Sukhpal Singh, general manager of the facility which is run by one ‘Dream & Beauty Charitable Trust’, told The Indian Express, “We have around 250 inmates and more than 300 staff members. There were 31 positive cases and five deaths. All five who died were very old inmates who also had other health conditions. Among 31 positive cases, 21 were inmates and rest were staff members. Our facility was declared a containment zone and those inmates who had symptoms were also shifted to hospitals. Now, it has been denotified as a containment zone and still we are taking all precautions. All inmates except couples are staying in separate rooms. Food is also not being served in the dining hall but in each room. Other than this, handwashing, sanitisation and hygiene are being maintained properly.”

He said that five inmates who died after testing positive, died at hospitals not inside the facility. “We had taken them to hospitals where they died. We charge Rs 16,000 per person per month and provide all facilities to senior citizens who cannot live at their homes. We give them a home away from home…We had got the testing done of our inmates and staff voluntarily because Ludhiana district has become the hotspot of the virus,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, Dr Harpreet Singh, Senior Medical Officer (SMO) Payal/Doraha, said that Heavenly Palace has now been denotified as a containment zone but seeing that all inmates living there are senior citizens, the administration of the home stay has been instructed to take all precautions.

“Our team had conducted at least 350 tests inside the old age home including that of inmates and their staffers. After 31 tested positive, it was declared a containment zone. Five of their inmates also died. Now, it has been denotified as a containment zone but they need to take proper care of all the inmates,” said SMO.