People undergoing treatment at the isolation ward of the Government Medical College Hospital, Kalamasserry, for symptoms of COVID-19 are being fed a nutritious diet through the day with the Health Department adhering to separate menu for local residents and foreigners.
The breakfast served to Indians comprises dosa and sambar, two boiled eggs, two oranges, tea, and mineral water followed by a fruit juice three hours. Foreigners are served soup, fruits (raw cucumber, orange or banana), and two boiled eggs followed by pineapple juice at 11 a.m. Breakfast is being served as early as 7.30 a.m.
Free copies of The Hindu are being given along with the breakfast as part of the organisation’s corporate social responsibility initiative.
For Indians, two chapattis, rice, fish fry, thoran, curry, curd, and a one-litre bottle of mineral water make up the lunch served at 12 noon. Foreigners get toasted bread, cheese (if needed) and fruits for lunch. Indians get tea, biscuits/banana fry/vada at 3.30 p.m. whereas fruit juice is served to foreigners 30 minutes later.
Dinner for locals served at 7.30 p.m. comprises appam, vegetable stew, two bananas, and a litre of mineral water while foreigners are served toasted breads, scrambled eggs, and fruits while children also get milk.
District Collector S. Suhas said in a Facebook post that the administration was trying to provide all amenities to those in isolation.
“We are trying to ensure that isolation doesn’t become imprisonment, but offers an experience equivalent to or better than what one relishes at home,” he wrote.