Now, asymptomatic patients in J&K to be discharged after 10 days without testing
Chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam chaired a meeting to take stock of efforts toward mitigating Covid-19 pandemic and review the related standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies.
The J&K administration on Tuesday announced that asymptomatic covid patients will now be discharged after 10 days without testing.
Chief secretary BVR Subrahmanyam chaired a meeting to take stock of efforts toward mitigating Covid-19 pandemic and review the related standard operating procedures (SOPs) and policies.
In view of the recent surge in cases in Jammu, GMC Jammu principal was asked to ensure adequate availability of oxygen and other supplies in the hospital, including PPE kits, besides recruitment of enough manpower to overcome the problems in the hospital during the pandemic.
The chief secretary directed installation of 150 CCTVs at GMC for better patient management and monitoring, besides establishing a special covid counter in the emergency block to act as one-point contact of covid testing and subsequent segregation of symptomatic, asymptomatic, and negative cases.
“This counter will also house a covid helpdesk to assist patients through procedures of the notified SOPs,” he added.
The chief secretary directed Jammu MC commissioner to conduct three-day sanitization drive at GMC, Jammu. GMC principal was asked to clear all parking lots on GMC premises of idle vehicles for convenience and free movement of covid and other patients.
He further directed to nominate nodal officers in all covid hospitals to monitor daily case management, patient admissions and discharge, referrals, and infection trajectory. The health and medical education department was asked to conduct serological surveys and antibody tests to ascertain spread of infection and associated immunity in people.
While reviewing the discharge policy, the chief secretary said that the policy has been successful in lessening burden on tertiary healthcare system. The officers concerned were directed to discharge asymptomatic patients in the hospitals after 10 days without conducting any subsequent test.
The officers were directed to strictly implement home isolation guidelines for asymptomatic patients and ensure that they are free of co-morbidity and provided with government-sponsored oxymeter before being sent to home quarantine, besides using the Arogya Setu app to monitor their status.
He reiterated the importance of aggressive testing for early medical intervention and asked officials to focus on vulnerable patients including children, aged, pregnant women, patients with influenza-like illness, severe acute respiratory infections (SARI), co-morbid conditions, service providers, drivers, and healthcare professionals.