Ensure clinical assessment of asymptomatic, mild patients at home: Manish Sisodia to L-G
A new SOP has been issued mandating that cluster Covid patients in containment zones be shifted to hospitals to avoid further transmission
NEW DELHI: After Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal last week amended home isolation rules in the Capital to ensure that all COVID-19 positive patients first be taken to a COVID Care Centre and then assessed whether they qualify for home quarantine, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia has written to the L-G'S office asking for all clinical assessment to take place at the patient's homes instead. Sisodia said that these amended guidelines were creating confusion among patients and also putting pressure on Delhi's already stretched healthcare infrastructure, especially ambulance services which are used to take patients to the care centres and then back home if they qualify for home quarantine. In the letter, the Deputy CM said that anyone who is testing positive is facing a dilemma about transportation between the resident's home and the assessment centre. The Deputy CM urged the L-G to implement the earlier system in Delhi, where if a person is tested positive, a government medical team conducts clinical assessment at home to decide if they qualify for home isolation.
Sisodia has also asked that this matter be further discussed in detail at the next meeting of the Delhi Disaster Management Authority. He said that every day, more than 3000 patients are testing positive for COVID 19 and as they stand in queues outside the quarantine centre, they run the risk of infecting even more
people around them. Meanwhile, a new Standard Operating Procedure issued by thedelhi Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has said that it is mandatory for all asymptomatic positive cases tested through RT-PCR to be sent to Covid Care Centres (CCC) till medical assessment is done to determine if they can home quarantine. However, the SOP leaves room for some flexibility and adds that if a person tests positive in Rapid Antigen Test, their clinical assessment can be done at the testing centre itself before deciding whether they can isolate at home.
The SOP also stated that
strict implementation of Rapid Antigen test will be followed in Containment Zones along with RT-PCR test for “highly suspicious cases which test negative on Rapid antigen test.” It mentioned that “cluster cases” in highly dense areas will be sent to CCCS.
"The new SOPS have been issued to ensure that everyone who qualifies for home isolation gets the best medical attention and anyone who doesn't have facilities to do the same gets moved to CCCS. Even if the patients are asymptomatic, we want to ensure they get regular medical attention and all the assistance they need," said a statement issued by the government.