Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) patients with mild symptoms can stay in hotels and service apartments in case they don’t have space in their own residences to confine themselves in isolation, according to the Union health ministry’s revised guidelines on home quarantine for Covid patients.
The facility can be offered on paid basis as is being done by certain states for travellers and contacts of covid-19 cases. The price can be pre-decided by state governments.
“There are large number of facilities such as hotels, service apartments, lodges which remain unoccupied due to impact of COVID-19 on travel and tourism. There are also instances where people who don’t have requisite space at home may opt for such facilities. This is likely to reduce the pressure on the family, give comfort to the person, and protect the family members and immediate neighborhood,” read the health ministry guidelines.
The ministry has issued standard operating procedures that are applicable both for facility quarantine, facility isolation in hotels, service apartments, lodges etc.
“It is an extension of health ministry’s earlier guidelines on home quarantine for positive patients. Since about 80% positive cases have mild symptoms they do not really require to be in a hospital, and many people do not have adequate space in their homes to be able to successfully isolate themselves, for such people it was decided to allow them to use private facilities. Earlier also hotels, lodges, hostels etc have served as quarantined centres, it will be the same with extra precautions,” said an official from the health ministry, requesting anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}“It is an extension of health ministry’s earlier guidelines on home quarantine for positive patients. Since about 80% positive cases have mild symptoms they do not really require to be in a hospital, and many people do not have adequate space in their homes to be able to successfully isolate themselves, for such people it was decided to allow them to use private facilities. Earlier also hotels, lodges, hostels etc have served as quarantined centres, it will be the same with extra precautions,” said an official from the health ministry, requesting anonymity.
{{/usCountry}}It will be states’ responsibility to ensure that the quarantine and isolation facility will not co-exist.
These facilities will offer single room on paid basis to contacts, cases with attached washrooms. The tariff for the accommodation and services shall be fixed by the facility in consultation with the state government and widely publicized.
“The facility dedicated for isolation will follow the norms established for COVID Care Centre as available. The cases shall only be kept in an isolation facility, if the cases are clinically assessed to be pre-symptomatic or very mild. Such facility that opts for isolation will have separate earmarked areas for keeping suspect cases and confirmed cases and will ensure no inter-mingling of these two categories,” the guidelines further reads.
The facility owner will have to make additional arrangements for an in-house trained doctor and a nurse on 24X7 basis. The doctor will monitor the contacts, cases in quarantine, isolation facilities once a day on basic parameters of temperature, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate and pulse oxymetry and keep record of the same.
The doctor engaged by the facility will inform the District Surveillance Officer regarding the list of admitted cases or contacts, and their health status. The facility should network with an approved laboratory for testing samples as per ICMR guidelines. The patients should not be allowed to meet visitors. However, they can talk on phone. The facility will provide Wi-Fi facility and ensure that the client downloads the Aarogya Setu App on mobile.
The linens, towels etc. and rooms should be disinfected and the facility will follow infection prevention control practices as per health ministry guidelines.
The in-house catering should only provide room services for freshly cooked food duly following physical distancing and environmental sanitation. The discharge of patients from the facility will be as per the health ministry directive for discharged of covid-19 patients from the hospital.
“The most important discharge criteria is that these people should test negative twice in a span of 24 hours, and should be certified fit to be discharged from their treating medical doctor,” the official added.
Experts say as long as the protocol is followed, there is no harm in home or facility isolation of mild positive cases.
“I am a big believer of home isolation as at least 90% of the cases, according to me are mild enough to not require hospitalization. As long precautions are taken and there is regular medical consultation, it is a good idea,” said T Jacob John, senior virologist.