The Centre on Friday revised its guidelines on Covid-19 patients and said only severe cases will now be tested before being discharged. The two-page revised guidelines replaces the previously existing rule under which patients, who are laboratory confirmed cases, were discharged after two negative tests on day 14 and 21.
The latest guidelines added that other categories of patients – including very mild, mild, pre-symptomatic and moderate cases – need not be tested before discharge. “Mild, very mild or pre-symptomatic cases admitted to a Covid Care Facility will undergo regular temperature and pulse oximetry monitoring,” the home ministry said in a statement. “The patient can be discharged after ten days of symptom onset and no fever for three days.”
However, patients have been advised to continue to isolate themselves at home for seven more days. After being released from the hospital, if a patient redevelops symptoms of fever, cough or has breathing difficulties, they must immediately visit the Covid Care Centre, the home ministry said. “His or her health will again be followed up through teleconference on 14th day,” it added.
Meanwhile, moderate cases will undergo monitoring of body temperature and oxygen saturation. If the fever subsides within three days and a patient maintains saturation above 95% for the next four days without oxygen support – then they will be discharged after 10 days of symptom onset – provided there is no fever without anti-fever drugs, no breathlessness and no need for oxygen.
All India Institute of Medical Sciences Resident Doctors’ Association General Secretary Srinivas Rajkumar said the decision to send back Covid-19 positive patients without testing was a “disaster in the making”, The Hindu reported. “People sent back untested may spread the virus in the community,” he said. “What was the government doing for 40 days without arranging enough testing facilities? Is govt ready to sacrifice two lakh Indians or more to Covid-19 based on its estimates?”
The single test criteria will also apply to severe coronavirus cases and those who are immunocompromised such as those who have HIV, transplant recipients and patients with malignancy.
Patients on oxygen support whose fever does not subside within three days will be discharged only after their symptoms subside, or when they are able to maintain oxygen saturation for three consecutive days, the guidelines said.
India’s cases of the novel coronavirus rose by 3,320 to 59,662 on Saturday morning.
The changed guidelines for hospitalisation come into effect as India is bracing for a spike in the number of infections, with mathematical modelling predicting that the peak could be in June-July.
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