Follow guidelines, docs told

While doctors have often argued that there are several patients who are swab positive on the 14th and 15th day and some up to 25 or even 30th day and discharging them could lead to further spread of the virus, sources said that the state government has instructed the Gandhi Hospital administration to strictly adhere to the guidelines.

At least five RTC buses and about 10 ambulances were pressed into service to drop the patients back home.

Sources said that the influx of Covid-19 positive patients and those suspected to have infected the virus, has been increasing at an alarming rate at Gandhi Hospital and the authorities are finding it increasingly difficult to accommodate them.

Over the past week, several patients were being discharged every day but the number on Monday was huge. “It is up to these patients whether they strictly follow home quarantine. If they take it easy as they have been discharged, they could end up spreading the virus,” they said.

As per the guidelines, mild, very mild and presymptomatic cases will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring and can be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset and no fever for three days.

Gandhi Hospital Superintendent Dr M. Rajarao said that the patients were aged below 50 and had no symptoms like fever, cough or cold. He added that 310 patients had special rooms in their homes while the remaining were shifted to Ameerpet.