Change in Delhi home isolation norms likely

NEW DELHI: Keen to bring down the Covid-19 mortality rate, the Union home ministry is set to propose a revision in home isolation guidelines for the capital. It may now be mandatory for infected people recovering at home to be shifted to medical facilities if they report oxygen saturation levels below normal or their body temperature rise beyond a point.

Doctors generally put 'normal' oxygen saturation levels as 95% to 100%. Delhi's present home isolation guidelines for asymptomatic Covid-positive persons below 55 years and with no co-morbidities require them to be reported to the home isolation call centre if they run a fever of 100°F or more.

Proposed norms aim to avoid delay in hospitalisation if oxygen level dips

According to the proposed guidelines, if a patient at home reports abnormal oxygen saturation levels or high temperature — the exact parameters shall be clearly defined — to the call centre tasked with monitoring home-isolated cases on a daily basis, she will be mandatorily shifted to a Covid care centre or hospital where she can be under constant monitoring by doctors and nurses.

The proposed change, sources said, is aimed at ensuring immediate medical attention to a patient under home isolation and preventing any delay in hospitalisation in cases where the dip in oxygen levels is not accompanied by visible signs of discomfort.

“This is to ensure timely care as there have been many instances when delay in hospitalisation of patients has been directly linked to complications and death. In any case, there has been major expansion in facilities in Delhi with nearly 30,000 beds available now. This includes 10,000 beds at the ITBP-run Covid Care Centre at Radha Soami Beas in Chhatarpur and the 1,000-bed hospital manned by armed forces medical services personnel. These should be effectively utilised for better care of patients,” a home ministry functionary said.

Home minister Amit Shah, who has been monitoring the Covid-19 situation in Delhi since June 14 with encouraging results, has already held discussions with public health experts and senior doctors. A review meeting with the Delhi government brass will be held on Monday to finalise the revised home isolation guidelines for the state. The new guidelines may come into effect from Tuesday.

The existing home isolation guidelines for Delhi do not specify the minimum oxygen saturation levels at which the patient must mandatorily be shifted to an institutional quarantine or hospital, though they do require difficulty in breathing to be reported to the monitoring team. The norms further state that if fever readings are beyond 100 degree Fahrenheit, the call centre must be informed.

Delhi’s Covid-19 case fatality rate has fallen from 4.1% on June 16 to around 3% now, though this is still above the national rate of 2.72%. Recovery rate in Delhi has improved from 37.4% on June 13 to nearly 75% now, with doubling rate up from 13.5 days on June 14 to 29.7 days now. Daily deaths in hospital due to Covid-19 that were 101 on June 10 had come down to 50 as on July 7.