Secondary contacts of Covid-19 patient won’t go under institutional quarantine

Noida: The Uttar Pradesh government has asked all the district magistrates and chief medical officers to follow the upgraded guidelines on primary and secondary

Noida: The Uttar Pradesh government has asked all the district magistrates and chief medical officers to follow the upgraded guidelines on primary and secondary contacts of a Covid-19 patient while containing spread of the deadly virus.

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The new guidelines issued on Saturday give clear instructions on those who should be kept under institutional quarantine and the ones who need to go under home quarantine.

UP principal secretary Amit Mohan Prasad has informed officials that people living in the same house as the Covid-19 patient will be kept under institutional quarantine. Anybody who has come in direct and close contact of the patient without wearing personal protection equipment (PPE) kit, then such person also needs to be put under institutional quarantine.

“The order has given more clarity on the people who should be kept under home quarantine and the ones who need to go under institutional quarantine. There is more clarity on the action required while handling the primary or the secondary contact of a Covid-19 positive patient,” said a senior health official leading the containment drive in the Gautam Budh Nagar district.

The order has made it very clear that any person who has come in contact with the patient within the distance of one metre will be sent to institutional quarantine. This category mostly involves the government and health officials, doctors, nurses, lab technicians and the other paramedical staff, the officials said.

All the secondary contacts like neighbours or relatives or colleagues or anybody who comes in indirect contact with the positive patient will be kept under home quarantine until and unless they develop Covid-19 symptoms.

The order has also said that it is important to have a separate room in the house for a Covid-19 suspect with an attached bathroom. There has to be more than one bathroom in the house so that the other family members don’t use the one used by the person under home quarantine.

There should not be any high risk group in the house before keeping a person under home quarantine like persons above the age of 60, people suffering from co-morbid health conditions, pregnant women and young kids, the guideline said.

A person going under home quarantine will have to give a written acceptance that he or she will download the Aarogya Setu application and will be active on that. The concerned persons will have to provide their health updates to the local health officials. Such persons will also have to allow the officials to put a flyer outside their house, it said.

The order has also given out guidelines for the family members of the people who are under home quarantine. Officials have suggested that one member should be chosen to provide food and other required items to the suspect to ensure that others don’t come in any contact with that person.

Family members are also suggested that they should maintain a minimum distance of two metres at least. Officials have suggested that people living in the same house should use gloves while washing clothes or cleaning the floor. Hands should be washed properly immediately after removing the gloves.

If the suspect develops any symptom, then health officials should be informed immediately by the family members, the order said.

The order has also said that the washroom and the areas coming in touch with the person under home quarantine should be cleaned and sanitized with 1% of Sodium Hypochlorite. Clothes used by the suspect should be washed with regular detergent and warm water.