Centre Allows Home Isolation of Very Mild & Pre-Symptomatic COVID-19 Patients; Here Are Guidelines by Health Ministry

Hours after the Centre allowed the option of home-isolation for COVID-19 patients who have very mild or no symptoms, the health ministry issued an advisory regarding this. Home-isolation will be allowed if the patient has a requisite facility at their house. Family contacts of the patient should also have a quarantine facility, and caretaker should be available all the time. Coronavirus Patients in West Bengal Can Self-Isolate Themselves at Home, Mamata Banerjee Says 'Lakhs & Lakhs of People Can't be Quarantined As Govt Has Its Own Limit'.

The health Ministry also issued a form which should be filled by COVID-19 patient for undertaking self-isolation. In the advisory also given instruction for the caretakers of coronavirus patients if they opt for self-isolation. In the advisory, the government mentioned the condition under which he or she can be eligible for self-isolation. The guidelines issued by the Health Ministry on Monday are in addition to the instructions on appropriate management of suspect/confirmed case of COVID-19, which were released on April 7. Click here for detailed guidelines by the Health Ministry:

Eligibility for home isolation:

• The person should be clinically assigned as a very mild case/ pre-symptomatic case by the treating medical officer.
• Such cases should have the requisite facility at their residence for self-isolation and also for quarantining the family contacts.
• A caregiver should be available to provide care on 24 x7 basis. A communication link between the caregiver and hospital is a prerequisite for the entire duration of home isolation.
• The caregiver and all close contacts of such cases should take Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis as per protocol and as prescribed by the treating medical officer.
• The patient shall agree to monitor his health and regularly inform his health status to the District Surveillance Officer for further follow up by the surveillance teams.
• The patient will fill in an undertaking on self-isolation (Annexure I) and shall follow home quarantine guidelines. Such individual shall be eligible for home isolation.

A person can seek medical attention if he/she feels difficulty in breathing, persistent pain in the chest and mental confusion or inability to arouse. Medical attention can also be sought if the patient develops bluish discolourations of lips and face. Patients under home isolation will end home isolation if symptoms are clinically resolved and the medical surveillance officer certifies him to be free of infection after laboratory testing.

Instruction for care-takers:

• The caregiver should wear a triple layer medical mask appropriately when in the same room with the ill person.
• The front portion of the mask should not be touched or handled during use.
•  If the mask gets wet or dirty with secretions, it must be changed immediately, and it should be discarded after use and perform hand hygiene after disposal of the mask.
• He/she should avoid touching own face, nose or mouth.
• Hand hygiene must be ensured following contact with ill person or his immediate environment.
• After using soap and water, use of disposable paper towels to dry hands is desirable.
• Avoid direct contact with body fluids of the patient, particularly oral or respiratory secretions. Use disposable gloves while handling the patient. Perform hand hygiene before and after removing gloves.
• Avoid exposure to potentially contaminated items in his immediate environment (e.g. avoid sharing cigarettes, eating utensils, dishes, drinks, used towels or bed linen).
• Food must be provided to the patient in his room
• Utensils and dishes used by the patient should be cleaned with soap/detergent and water wearing gloves. The utensils and dishes may be re-used. Clean hands after taking off gloves or handling used items.
• Use triple layer medical mask and disposable gloves while cleaning or handling surfaces, clothing or linen used by the patient. Perform hand hygiene before and after removing gloves.

Instructions for the Patients:

• Patients should at all times use triple layer medical mask. Discard mask after eight hours of use or earlier if they become wet or visibly soiled. Mask should be discarded only after disinfecting it with 1% Sodium Hypo-chlorite.
• Patient must stay in the identified room and away from other people in home, especially elderlies and those with co-morbid conditions like hypertension, cardiovascular disease, renal disease etc.
• Patient must take rest and drink lot of fluids to maintain adequate hydration
• Follow respiratory etiquettes all the time.
• Hands must be washed often with soap and water for at least 40 seconds or clean with alcohol-based sanitizer.
• Don’t share personal items with other people.
• Clean surfaces in the room that are touched often (tabletops, door knobs, handles, etc) with one percent hypochlorite solution.
• The patient must strictly follow the physician’s instructions and medication advice.
• The patient will self-monitor his/her health with daily temperature monitoring and report promptly if develops any deterioration of symptom as detailed below.

India on Monday reported 1463 new cases of coronavirus and 60 deaths reported in the last 24 hours. The number of COVID-19 cases increased to 28,380, while 886 people lost their lives due to the deadly virus. According to the Health Ministry, there 21,132 active cases in India. Meanwhile, 6,382 people have recovered from the disease.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 27, 2020 09:28 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).