Only severe COVID-19 patients to be tested before discharge: Health ministry

NEW DELHI: Coronavirus infected patients developing severe illness or having compromised immunity will have to test negative through RTPCR test before being discharged by a hospital, the Union Health ministry on Friday said in its revised discharge policy for COVID-19 cases.

Moderate cases of COVID19 and pre-symptomatic, mild and very mild cases need not undergo tests before being discharged after resolution of symptoms.

According to the rules till now, a patient was considered fit to be discharged if he or she tested negative on day 14 and then again in 24 hours.

“The revised discharge policy is aligned with the guidelines on the 3 tier COVID facilities and the categorisation of patients based on clinical severity,” the ministry said.

The discharge criteria for severe cases, including immuno-compromised like HIV patients, transplant recipients, and those having malignancy will be based on clinical recovery and of patient tested negative once by RT-PCR (after the resolution of symptoms), the revised policy stated.

Cases clinically classified as “moderate” will undergo monitoring of body temperature and oxygen saturation.

If fever resolves within three days and the patient maintains saturation above 95 per cent for the next four days (without oxygen support), such a patient will be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset in case of absence of fever without antipyretics, resolution of breathlessness and no oxygen requirement

“There will be no need for testing before discharge,” the ministry said.