Capital: Order on institutional isolation scrapped
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Saturday rolled back its controversial order to mandatorily quarantine even asymptomatic and mild coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases at institutional facilities for five days, in a move that was welcomed by the Delhi government and experts, who said the directive would have overwhelmed the Capital’s health care infrastructure.
Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who heads DDMA, issued the order.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Saturday rolled back its controversial order to mandatorily quarantine even asymptomatic and mild coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases at institutional facilities for five days, in a move that was welcomed by the Delhi government and experts, who said the directive would have overwhelmed the Capital’s health care infrastructure.
Delhi lieutenant governor Anil Baijal, who heads DDMA, issued the order on Saturday, with experts saying that thousands of additional patients at hospitals would strain the Capital’s health infrastructure, result in a shortage of health care workers, militate against people getting tested, and throw Delhi’s long-term strategy out of gear.
“Regarding institutional isolation, only those COVID positive cases which do not require hospitalisation on clinical assessment & do not have adequate facilities for home isolation would be required to undergo institutional isolation,” Baijal tweeted on Saturday, about 24 hours after ordering the change in the guidelines. The LG, however, said that all Covid-19 patients will have to be referred to Covid Care Centres (CCCs) for assessment of their clinical conditions, severity of illness and presence of co-morbidities.
In another tweet, he said DDMA approved the recommendations of a high-level expert committee for fixing subsidised rates for Covid-19 treatment at private hospitals of Delhi. Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia said 100% Covid-19 beds in private hospitals will be subsidised up to an upper limit of 60% of the total hospital capacity.