Delhi ends 14-day mandatory quarantine for all health workers

The quarantine will also be required if a staff comes in in contact with a positive person ( within a distance of 1m) for more than 15 minutes without mask, face shield or goggles.

Doctors, nurses and other staff members at hospitals designated to treat Covid-19 in Delhi will no longer be put under 14-day quarantine after their Covid-19 duty, according to the new guidelines of managing health care workers issued by the Delhi health secretary Padmini Single on Monday.

Staff will have to go into quarantine only if they have had a “high risk exposure” such as them treating Covid-19 patient or handling their samples without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) or probable breach of PPE protocol. (ANI file photo)

Staff will have to go into quarantine only if they have had a “high risk exposure” such as them treating Covid-19 patient or handling their samples without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) or probable breach of PPE protocol. The quarantine will also be required if a staff comes in in contact with a positive person ( within a distance of 1m) for more than 15 minutes without mask, face shield or goggles.

“Regular quarantine of health care workers after performing duty in Covid-19 areas is not warranted except as elaborated under protocol of high risk and low risk contact,” the order reads.

So far, most Covid-19 hospitals have been following a rotation roster, whereby the staff worked for 14 days and remained in quarantine for 14 days. “As the incubation period of the virus is 14 days, a quarantine and then testing of those working in Covid-19 wards would ensure that they do not pass on the infection to their families or to other patients that they might treat afterwards,” Dr Shivaji Barman, president of the Federation of Resident Doctors’ Association (FORDA), said.

On Monday, FORDA wrote to Union health minister Dr Harsh Vardhan asking him to reconsider the guidelines of the health ministry.

“The virus has an incubation period ranging from two to 14 days following exposure. There are multiple instances of doctors testing positive for Covid-19 following the second test or subsequently. Also, many asymptomatic patients are testing positive for Covid-19. Under the current circumstances, a 14-day quarantine along with adequate testing for all doctors following Covid-19 duty is a necessity in order to prevent spread of the infection among their colleagues, family members and in the community,” the letter said.

As for non-Covid-19 hospitals, the order directs them to create separate isolation wards to admit suspected Covid-19 patients referred by flu corners to ensure that the infection does not spread.