Confusion persists on home isolation rules in Capital

NEW DELHI: A day after the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA), headed by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal, scrapped its order mandating five days of institutional quarantine even for those with mild Covid-19 symptoms, but said that every person who tests positive be taken to Covid Care Centres (CCC) for an assessment of their clinical conditions, some district administration officials in the city are calling the move impractical on the grounds that it would increase the risk of the infection.

Meanwhile, with no new standard operating procedure (SOP) issued yet, there was confusion on how to deal with new cases on Sunday, and some other district officials said they continued with the previous protocol — sending health officials to the patient’s residence for a clinical diagnosis

The order on Saturday night, issued by principal health secretary Vikram Dev Dutt, said “all individuals who are positive will be referred to the COVID Care Centres for assessment of clinical conditions, the severity of illness and presence of comorbidities”.

To be eligible for home isolation, a patient’s house needs to have a separate room with an attached bathroom, and space for isolation for a dedicated caregiver and other family members.

As of Sunday evening, 12,106 Covid-19 patients in the city are under home isolation.

But, senior officials in the government said that another problem had emerged because of a Friday order that coincided with the one in which five days’ institutional quarantine was made mandatory for all patients — the scrapping of the contract of the company that was handling the contact and management of all home quarantine patients.

An analysis of government data revealed that since Friday, 9,767 new Covid-19 cases have been added in the Capital.

Of these, about 1,600 were admitted in hospitals, Covid Health Centres and Covid Care Centres.