No hospitalisation of mild, very mild cases

The Health Ministry on Tuesday came out with new guidelines to divide the COVID-19 patients into three categories and not hospitalise those with mild or very mild symptoms, saying this will ensure availability of hospital beds for moderate to severe cases.

It has proposed three types of COVID dedicated facilities with areas earmarked separately for suspect and confirmed cases; they will not be allowed to mix under any circumstances.

The three types of COVID dedicated facilities are:

1. MILD CASES: There will be COVID Care Centres only for cases clinically assigned as mild, very mild or suspect. These will be makeshift centres like hostels, hotels, schools, stadiums and lodges. There will be individual rooms for suspect cases, and they should

have life support ambulances for shifting the patient, if symptoms progress from mild to moderate or severe.

2. MODERATE CASES: There will be dedicated COVID health centres in hospitals for cases clinically assigned as moderate, with preferably separate entry and exit points. There will have oxygen-equipped ambulances to shift the cases if they turn severe from moderate.

Private hospitals can also be declared as such centres.

3. SEVERE: Dedicated COVID hospitals shall offer comprehensive care to those clinically declared as severe. It can be a full hospital or a separate block in a hospital with separate entry/exit. These hospitals would have fully equipped ICUs, ventilators and beds with assured oxygen support. These would also be referral centres for the above two centres.

The guidelines say the supervisory medical office will assess severity of the case and refer it to appropriate facility. They come through helpline or referral or in field settings during containment operations.